WATCH: An emotional Van Jones calls Donald Trump's victory "a white-lash against a black president"

"It's hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us," Jones told a CNN panel as Trump's lead grew on election night

Published November 9, 2016 1:58PM (EST)

As it became more apparent on late Tuesday night that Donald Trump was running away with the electoral college and the presidency, CNN pundit Van Jones pointed to what he saw as a "white-lash" against President Barack Obama.

"It's hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us," a teary-eyed Jones told fellow panelists during the network's live election night coverage. "You tell your kids, 'Don't be a bully.' You tell your kids, 'Don't be a bigot.' You tell your kids, 'Do you homework and be prepared.' Then you have this outcome. And you have people putting children to bed tonight and they're afraid of breakfast. They're afraid of, 'How do I explain this to my children?'"

"We've talked about everything but race tonight. We've talked about income, we've talked about class, we've talked about region. We haven’t talked about race," he continued. "This was a white-lash. This was a white-lash against a changing country. It was a white-lash against a black president, in part. And that’s the part where the pain comes. And Donald Trump has a responsibility tonight to come out and reassure people that he is going to be the president of all the people who he insulted and offended and brushed aside."


By Brendan Gauthier

Brendan Gauthier is a freelance writer.

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Barack Obama Cnn Donald Trump Elections 2016 Van Jones White-lash