Vivek Ramaswamy Challenges CNN's Van Jones Over Comment That Led to Death Threats

In Christian teaching, Jesus Christ commands us to forgive our enemies, a directive that is absolute and non-negotiable for believers.

However, when it comes to reducing tensions or restoring civility in political discourse, cooperation is essential.

On Thursday, a video went viral on the social media platform X, capturing a moment at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In the clip, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy politely confronted CNN commentator Van Jones about comments Jones made on-air that allegedly resulted in death threats against Ramaswamy. The exchange seemed to hint at a possible apology from Jones.

During a Republican presidential debate in December, Ramaswamy criticized the Democrats’ policy on open borders, stating that they had effectively embraced the so-called “great replacement theory.” While some liberals denounce this theory as racist, Ramaswamy argued that it simply refers to enabling a border invasion to harm American citizens and alter the nation’s electorate.

Jones reacted by labeling Ramaswamy as an “American demagogue” and described him as a “very, very despicable person.”

At a Turning Point USA event, Ramaswamy responded by suggesting that Jones should “just shut the f*** up.”

Publicly, the dispute between Ramaswamy and Jones seemed to fade away—until Thursday.

“We got death threats after the thing you said,” Ramaswamy informed Jones following a cordial greeting at the DNC. Jones appeared to walk away initially.

“That’s Van Jones for you,” Ramaswamy remarked before turning to walk in the opposite direction.

However, the video later showed the two men standing and talking face to face.

Ramaswamy then explained how Jones’s comments had put his family at risk.

“For the first time in the campaign, we got a death threat from a man who wanted to show up in New Hampshire. Thankfully, the police intervened and stopped it,” Ramaswamy recounted.

“The next day — the next day, back-to-back days, my wife was scared enough — the next day we woke up, it’s 3 a.m., and we get a call from him — he’s my security guard,” Ramaswamy added, pointing to the security guard.

The security guard informed the candidate of another imminent threat.

“So that’s within 48 hours, and I’m not going to attribute that to your comment because — whatever it is — but for our family, you know what, publicly I didn’t do it, but for our family, yeah, it pissed us the heck off,” Ramaswamy admitted.

Jones listened as Ramaswamy spoke for another 30 seconds about rhetoric and civil discourse.

At this point, Jones seemed to reach into his back pocket.

The video, which had over 1.3 million views on X by Friday afternoon, did not capture all the audio clearly.

However, Jones appeared to say, “I’ll call you in a couple days.”

“Okay, we don’t need to do any of this on-air,” Ramaswamy replied.

Jones then leaned in and said something else, to which Ramaswamy responded, “It’s classy of you to say so, and I hope we can build a friendship.”

Democrats, of course, have made little effort to tone down their harsh and misleading rhetoric about former President Donald Trump.

As a result, one cannot be too optimistic about the return of civility.

If civility does make a comeback, it will likely resemble the exchange between Ramaswamy and Jones.

In other words, those who once considered themselves adversaries must take the time to reconsider.

Meanwhile, if Democrats refuse to relinquish their animosity, we must forgive them while continuing to oppose them.