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By Aila Slisco
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CNN's Van Jones compared this year's Republican National Convention under former President Donald Trump to the 2008 Democratic National Convention under then-future President Barack Obama.
Jones, political commentator and former adviser to Obama, made the remarks after noting the exuberance of conservative commentator Scott Jennings during a broadcast on Thursday night shortly before Trump was set to accept the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. "The last time I was at a convention like this was Obama 2008," Jones said. "There's something happening ..."
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The Context
Following the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver, Obama was nominated alongside his running mate, future President Joe Biden, before going on to defeat Republican nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin for the first of two terms.
Obama won by a landslide, with a 365-173 margin of victory in the Electoral College and a lead of nearly 10 million national popular votes, including wins in several states that are now considered solidly Republican.
Jones served for a time as an adviser in the Obama White House. Although he remains a Democrat, he has made several on-air comments recently touting Trump's political strength and Biden's weakness.
On Wednesday night, Jones compared Trump's assassination attempt to Biden's positive COVID-19 test result with the following comment: "A bullet couldn't stop Trump, a virus just stopped Biden."
Trump's supporters have always been exuberant and his ability to develop a loyal following is what got him to the White House in 2016. A new YouGov poll showed 72 percent of Trump supporters are "very" or "somewhat" enthusiastic about voting in the November election, compared with 52 percent of Biden's supporters.
What We Know
"We are like minutes away, minutes away from Hulk Hogan, Dana White and Donald J. Trump," a seemingly excited Jennings said during the broadcast on Thursday, referring to the convention's coming speakers.
"I want to say something," Jones interjected. "This spirit that this guy has, you guys think it's because he's drunk. He's not. This whole thing [convention] is like this!"
"Hey guys," Jones continued. "The last time I was in a convention that felt like this was Obama 2008. There's something happening ..."
Views
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Republican and Democratic national committees via email on Thursday night.
Convention attendees and speakers have expressed enthusiasm about this year's event over its four days, likely buoyed by polls showing Trump as the election's current front-runner after surviving an assassination attempt.
Former professional wrestler Hogan, who spoke shortly before Trump was expected to officially accept the nomination, declared the former president "a real American hero" before dramatically ripping his shirt off and calling for "Trumpamania" to sweep across the nation.
"What happened last week, when they took a shot at my hero, and they tried to kill the next president of the United States, enough was enough," Hogan said as he tore his shirt off. "I say let Trumpamania run wild, brother. Let Trumpamania rule again. Let Trumpamania make America great again."
What's Next
This year's Democratic National Convention is set to take place in Chicago from August 19 to August 22. While Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee, the president has been under intense pressure to drop out from members of his own party following an unsettling June 27 debate performance and it is far from clear that he will remain in the race.
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