CNN commentator Van Jones said former President Donald Trump may be making a huge mistake if he boycotts the GOP primary debates.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Source,” Jones said rival 2024 Republican candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is “a really compelling figure” who “could break through” if “he doesn’t have to sit there and dodge weird nicknames from Donald Trump” on debate stage. The first GOP debate is set for next month.
“When somebody breaks through, you can get a snowball going,” Jones added in video shared online by Mediaite.
The pundit also ridiculed Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel for having to “beg” Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, to participate in the debates.
“Please, baby, please! Please, baby, please!” Jones pretended McDaniel had said. “I think it’s kind of pathetic. But, you know, Donald Trump does what he wants to do. I think he’s making a mistake because somebody else could do something extraordinary.”
Later, Jones added: “This is like, you’ve got this big toddler who’s like, the size of a skyscraper, just wandering around the Republican Party doing whatever he wants to and you’ve got the RNC chair behind, ‘Please, please sit down. Eat your peas.’ It’s not gonna work. He’ll do whatever he wants to do.”
Trump has repeatedly said he might skip the party’s debates because he would have nothing to gain by participating.