Van Jones on Biden Speech: ‘As Long as He Didn’t Embarrass Himself, We Were Going to Come Out Here and Praise Him’

Thursday following former Vice President Joe Biden’s speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, CNN contributor Van Jones revealed Democrats were concerned about Biden’s performance headed into the speech.

Jones explained Democrats were braced for a “terrible speech” but breathing a sigh of relief after the delivery, marking the end of the four-day virtual Democratic National Convention.

“That sound that you hear all across the country is the sound of Democrats exhaling,” he said. “That’s what that is. People would have accepted anything. We just wanted Joe to get out there. So, you know, sometimes when he gets up there you’re afraid he’s going to make a mistake, he’s going to have a gaffe, the expectation is just so low. And then he came out there, and he gave an extraordinary speech.”

“Listen, first of all, it’s very tough just to do the biography,” Jones continued. “It’s very tough to do policy, very tough to do attack and contrast, almost impossible to do all three well. He did all three well, and it was authentic. It was an extraordinary speech. And we were prepared for it to be a terrible speech. As long as he didn’t embarrass himself, we were going to come out here and praise him. You don’t have to make anything up tonight. Joe Biden did that thing tonight. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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