CNN political commentator Van Jones has apologized to former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami for earlier harsh comments that preceded death threats against Ramaswami's family, according to a video posted on Friday.
Jones is It is called On December 6, after a primary debate in which the then-presidential candidate spoke about the “Great Replacement Theory,” Ramaswami called him a “seditious person” and “dangerous” on CNN. According to footage filmed by conservative political commentator Benny Johnson, Ramaswami met with Jones in person at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday and described how police had arrested a man who had been sending death threats to him and his family “within 48 hours” of Jones' comments.
“So you said on air that he was a demagogue, that he was a dangerous person and that he's going to be around for 50 years after Donald Trump is gone,” Ramaswamy told Jones, “and then, for the first time in the campaign, I got a death threat from a guy trying to show up in New Hampshire. Thankfully, the police stepped in and got him.”
The suspect, Tyler Anderson, 30, is alleged to have sent text messages threatening to kill Ramaswami and his supporters while campaigning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on December 8. According to According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire on December 11, authorities arrested Ramaswami on December 9 after federal agents traced threatening messages sent to his phone and home address. According to To the New York Times. (RELATED: Vivek lashes out at CNN, claims he'll miss debate due to 'pranks')
Ramaswami said he received a call from security at 3 a.m. the following morning, telling him that someone had turned up at his house “with four bodies.”
“And I don't think it was because of your comments, whatever that may be, but for our family, you know, I didn't do that publicly for my family. Yeah, we were incredibly upset, actually. So, I would never say anything that would put anybody at risk of physical harm, but if anybody, even if they didn't mean to cause that kind of outrage to my family, yeah, I think that week fell on me,” Ramaswami continued.
Incredible moment: Van Jones and Vivec meet for the first time.
Van Jones' outrageous comments on CNN led to death threats against Vivec and his family.
When they first met, they practically told each other to “go away.”
Then Van came back and something truly amazing happened… 👊🏼🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gaYNtT05lC
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 23, 2024
Jones asked Ramaswamy for his personal mobile phone number and promised to call him and his wife within the next few days to apologise.
“I'll call you in a few days and apologize to your wife,” Jones said.
“Okay, we don't have to do this on air,” Ramaswami responded. “You know what we can do? Maybe we can turn the page and write a chapter that shows what good debate actually looks like in this country. That's not just your responsibility, that's mine too. Okay, that's up to us.”
Jones said on his show on December 6 that Ramaswami espouses conspiracy theories and represents “the rise of American demagogues.” His comments were in response to Ramaswami's statement during a 2024 Republican primary debate on December 6 that the “Great Replacement Theory” is a “foundational statement of the Democratic Party platform.”
“And the self-righteous, condescending way in which he spews this venom is very dangerous,” Jones said. “Because he can't stop Trump, but he'll outlive Trump by about 50 years. We're witnessing the rise of a very vile American demagogue. And I was literally shaking listening to him because a lot of people don't know. What was coming out of his mouth was one step closer to Nazi propaganda.”
Speaking onstage at a Turning Point USA event on December 17, Ramaswami demanded that Jones “shut up” in response to CNN's comments.
“Then you have this guy named Van Jones on CNN who says, 'This is the rise of an American demagogue who will outlive Trump by 50 years. This is dangerous. This is terrifying.' That's what he says: Shut up. At some point, shut up,” Ramaswamy said.
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