Van Jones says Trump can be 'lawless' while Harris has to be 'flawless' in 2024 race and Internet agrees

WASHINGTON, DC: CNN senior political commentator Van Jones claimed that the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees are not being held to the same standard in the 2024 race to the White House, during a panel discussion on Wednesday, October 23.

With two weeks left until Election Day on November 5, the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump appears to be a dead heat, based on six recent surveys, reported Forbes.

Even the swing states are closely contested, with Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin, while Trump holds the advantage in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona.

In this context, Jones' comments are significant, as voter perceptions of the nominees could easily sway the outcome in either direction.

Van Jones' take on the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

Van Jones believes that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are being evaluated on entirely different standards in the race.

"Look, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not taking the same exam," he told the network panel on Wednesday. "And I think it bothers people. They’re not taking the same exam. He gets to be lawless. She has to be flawless. That’s what’s unfair.”

"She has policies. She may not articulate them perfectly every time, she may not put the stories in the right places, but she is fighting for actual ideas that will help real people, and he's talking about people's penises. And so they're not taking the same exam, and that's pissing people off," he explained.

Trump stirred controversy over the weekend by commenting on the size of Arnold Palmer's genitals during a rally in the late golfer's hometown in Pennsylvania, according to HuffPost. 

Fellow panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed with Jones, stating that in the case of Trump, his followers "simply gloss over issues."

Internet backs Van Jones' take

Netizens on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) backed Van Jones while reacting to his remarks. The following tweets demonstrate their takes.

"Exactly! The 2 candidates are not even in the same ballpark in qualifications but the media sane-washes Trump's bizarre words & behavior while holding Kamala to a ridiculously higher standard," wrote a user.

"It's because Trumpers don't care what he does. They will vote for him no matter what. If Kamala wants to win the undecided vote, she must excel far beyond his idiocy," stated another.

"It's been the same story for women breaking the glass ceiling for a century," noted a third.

"It's beyond unfair, it's very obvious. It wasn't enough during her role as V.P. that she was constantly scrutinized & critiqued by most media & now that she has shown all of us her true capabilities she's still getting her feet held to the fire," claimed another user.

"It is interesting that the media look for any imperfection in Kamala's life in order to denigrate her, while Trump's criminal convictions, court proceedings, numerous bankruptcies of the companies he ran, various affairs, etc, do not bother them," expressed a user.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online