Van Jones fires back at The View hosts for saying 'people in the black community don't trust you anymore' because he worked with Trump and posed for selfies with Candace Owens

 The hosts of The View were widely criticized on social media after a few of them grilled former Obama adviser Van Jones for complimenting Donald Trump and posing for a photo with conservative commentator Candace Owens.

Jones appeared on the ABC daytime talk show on Friday to promote a documentary film he produced alongside View co-host Meghan McCain about bridging the political divide that has roiled America in recent years.

But the conversation turned tense when hosts Sunny Hostin told Jones that he was distrusted by African Americans, Ana Navarro criticized him for taking a selfie with Owens, and Joy Behar ended the segment by telling him to ‘take a nap.’

Jones defended himself against accusations that he was giving ‘racial cover’ to Trump, saying that his outreach to the then-president as well as other Republicans was to advance prison reform.

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Van Jones (right), the CNN commentator and former adviser to ex-President Barack Obama, was criticized by The View co-hosts, including Ana Navarro (left), for his outreach to Republicans

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Navarro asked Jones if he didn't regret taking a selfie photo with Candace Owens, the conservative commentator, in 2018

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Jones has worked with Trump administration officials, including Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and White House advisor, on criminal justice reform. Jones is seen second from left alongside Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, at the White House in May 2018

Jones has praised Trump for signing into law the First Step Act in late 2018. The law, which passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support, eases mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of nonviolent, drug-related crimes.

He also said he had no regrets about posing for a selfie with Owens, a conservative commentator who has been criticized for making provocative comments about the black community and liberals in general.

The left-leaning hosts of The View took issue with Jones seeking common ground with Republicans at a time of deep polarization in the country, particularly during the Trump era.

Hostin, who is African American, pointedly told Jones during the segment: ‘People in the black community don’t trust you anymore.’

She then mentioned how Jones broke down in tears while on CNN’s air after the networks announced that Joe Biden was the projected winner of the recent presidential election.

‘Now Van, you do spend a lot of time threading the middle and trying to unite people,’ Hostin said.

‘But there are those who accuse you of being a political opportunist - a chameleon, so to speak - who provided racial cover for former, disgraced, twice impeached President Trump.’

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View co-host Sunny Hostin (left), who is African American, pointedly told Jones during the segment: ‘People in the black community don’t trust you anymore.’

Hostin then read aloud quotes by Jones in which he says that Trump did not get ‘enough credit’ for helping the black community.

‘Yet just recently you cried on CNN when Joe Biden was elected the 46th president, and you said it’s easier to be a parent now, character matters now, truth matters,’ she said.

‘You even mentioned George Floyd and said a lot of people felt they couldn’t breathe.

‘People in the black community don’t trust you anymore.

‘What is your response?’

Jones politely smiled and responded: ‘Well, I don’t think that’s true.’

‘People may not like everything I’ve said on television and I try to be balanced,’ Jones said.

‘But look at what I have done. Who among my critics have been able to get people together to help folks at the bottom?

‘When we fight like this about everything and you can’t give anybody even a little bit of credit for anything, who it hurts is not the politicians, it’s not the pundits, it’s regular folks who don't have anything.’

Jones continued: ‘I’m never going to apologize for putting the interest of people at the bottom first.

‘People need champions. Whoever is in that White House, you have a responsibility to go in there and advocate and try to get people home out of prison. I’m going to keep doing it, whoever is in that White House.’

McCain then spoke up in Jones’ defense while invoking her father, the late Senator John McCain of Arizona, who gained a reputation as a 'maverick' for at times defying his own party, the Republicans, in favor of working with Democrats.

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Jones appeared on the ABC daytime talk show on Friday to promote a documentary film he produced alongside View co-host Meghan McCain (left) about bridging the political divide that has roiled America in recent years

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McCain praised Jones on Twitter, saying she was 'proud to call him a friend'

Jones replied to McCain: 'Always proud to work with you!'

John McCain, who was a nemesis to Trump, died in August 2018. His widow, Cindy  McCain, and his daughter, Meghan McCain, voted for Biden, a longtime family friend. 

‘I want to say you have been such a life raft to me, and given me so much hope to live in the spirit of how my dad taught me to,’ Meghan told Jones during the segment.

‘And a lot of people come up to me almost hourly saying, “I loved your dad, I loved your dad, I loved your dad, we need more like him.”

‘Well, do you know what he did? He worked with the other side all the time.

‘That’s what he did. And he made hard choices and he was bipartisan, and he saw the good in people.’

McCain said during the segment that she didn’t think there’s ‘any way to come to the table with extremists who traffic in dangerous dog whistles and conspiracy theories.’

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Toward the end of the segment, co-host Joy Behar (left) told Jones it was time to 'take a nap' after Navarro asked him about his selfie with Owens

But she did express concern ‘about the path we’re headed down if we write off a huge swath of this country as irredeemable.’

Jones agreed, saying that it was necessary to engage Trump voters in dialogue so as not to ‘throw away’ his supporters because ‘your trash you just threw away could become the Proud Boys’ treasure, it could become the Nazis’ treasure.’

But the other co-hosts kept pressing Jones. When it was Navarro’s turn to ask questions, she was perplexed at how Jones held discussions with members of Trump’s family.

‘You’ve lost a lot of people who trusted you and who saw you as a voice because of the positions you took during Trump,’ Navarro, a Republican anti-Trumper, told Jones.

Navarro then noted that Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, Jared Kushner, reportedly tried to get CNN to fire Jones during the 2016 campaign.

‘Then, all of a sudden, you show up working with nepotism Barbie and nepotism Ken,’ Navarro said, referencing Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who was also a White House adviser during her father’s term in office.

Navarro also took Jones to task for ‘showing up in pictures with Eric Trump and Candace Owens.’

‘So I think there are people who wonder, and I’m one of them, how did that evolution happen?’ Navarro asked.

‘How did you go from being this very principled critic of the Trump administration as I was to all of a sudden, being in the White House celebrating with them?’

Jones responded by saying he had no ‘regrets’ and that he was ‘proud’ of his work lobbying the Trump administration to support the prison reform legislation.

He said that ‘95 per cent of the time’ he criticized Trump and Republicans while on CNN.

‘But when they do something right, I’m going to say it - and then I’ll get beat up [by liberals] for saying it,’ Jones said.

Towards the end of the segment, Navarro once again asked Jones if he regretted posing for a selfie with Owens, who ‘I think is very hurtful.’

‘Do you not regret that? Do you not see that you’re giving her legitimacy?’ Navarro asked.

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On social media, Owens blasted The View co-hosts, specifically Navarro, for criticizing Jones over the selfie photo

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Owens wrote: 'The women of #TheView are taking their obsession with me to new heights'

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In a later tweet, Owens wrote: 'Van Jones and I disagree on about 95% of issues. That aside, we acknowledge and respect one another and can find plenty to smile about when in the same room.

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Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary under Trump, tweeted: 'This is INSANE & INTOLERANT! @VanJones68 is one of the kindest people. When few put politics aside, he did in partnering w/ the Trump admin on criminal justice reform. But apparently he can’t take a picture w/ @RealCandaceO? More of Van, less of this!'

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Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC star, tweeted: ‘How gross - he can’t even take a picture w/someone they don’t like? I’m Team @VanJones68. Good for him & @RealCandaceO for letting humanity triumph over politics once in a while.’

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Van you are walking a really high tight rope but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you come from a place of Integrity with Kindness in your Heart. 'You my Brother are doing good work don't be swayed.' 

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'Van I'm Conservative and don't always agree with you but [I 100 per cent] applaud you for putting the people ahead of the hits you knew you would take,' wrote one Twitter user

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Rick Kimball tweeted: 'Van, applaud you for making this film. I am a right leaning independent and look forward to seeing the film. I agree we need to find ways to better understand each other and bring our country together.

Elisha Krauss tweeted: 'So @VanJones68 and @MeghanMcCain make a documentary about the importance of bipartisanship and then all y’all get mad at him for... being bipartisan?'

Jones responded: ‘I take smiley pictures with lots of people.’

Before he could finish his reply to Navarro, Behar interjected, saying: ‘You’re going to have to take it outside.’

Behar apparently needed to end the segment with Jones, whose appearance on The View stretched to a lengthy 20 minutes.

‘I’ll take pictures with anybody,’ Jones said as Behar read a promotional script for the Jones-McCain documentary ‘The Reunited States’ seconds before going to commercial.

Behar ended the segment by saying: ‘Van, take a nap.’

On social media, Owens blasted The View co-hosts, specifically Navarro, for criticizing Jones over the selfie photo.

'OMG I cannot stop laughing,' Owens tweeted. '@ananavarro just questioned Van Jones for taking “a smiling picture with Candace Owens”.

'Um...what?

'The radical Left wants to unite America by making it a criminal act to smile in pictures with conservatives.

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Liberals on Twitter, however, were not as forgiving. One Twitter user wrote: 'Cool. It’s crazy how @VanJones68 went from a man who worked side by side with Prince to empower vulnerable communities to being someone who enables white supremacy and works with a woman who is married to a white nationalist.'

James Horns tweeted: 'I do believe you’ve done amazing work Van but I also agree with Ana. Candace Owens has said horrific & deplorable false statements about black people.'

'Utterly psychopathic.'

'To add context. Van Jones and I smiled together in a picture at a bi-partisan event attended by both Republicans and Democrats for the First Step Act— prison reform...

'The women of #TheView are taking their obsession with me to new heights.'

In a later tweet, Owens wrote: 'Van Jones and I disagree on about 95% of issues. That aside, we acknowledge and respect one another and can find plenty to smile about when in the same room.

'Rabid attempts to dehumanize Trump-supporters reach new heights when “smiling” becomes condemnable.'

Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary under Trump, tweeted: 'This is INSANE & INTOLERANT!

'@VanJones68 is one of the kindest people. When few put politics aside, he did in partnering w/ the Trump admin on criminal justice reform.

'But apparently he can’t take a picture w/ @RealCandaceO?

'More of Van, less of this!'

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC star, tweeted: ‘How gross - he can’t even take a picture w/someone they don’t like?

‘I’m Team @VanJones68. Good for him & @RealCandaceO for letting humanity triumph over politics once in a while.’

Elisha Krauss tweeted: 'So @VanJones68 and @MeghanMcCain make a documentary about the importance of bipartisanship and then all y’all get mad at him for... being bipartisan?' 

Meghan McCain tweeted: 'Working with @VanJones68 is one of the great privileges of my career. I am so proud to call him a friend and all of the incredible work done in our film @the_reunited.

'He and the filmmakers are trying to bring us together instead of divide, something too rare these days.'

Jones replied to Meghan McCain, tweeting: 'Same back at ya!! I hope everyone will watch @the_reunited and share it with someone with whom they disagree.

'Everyone can learn something from this documentary. Please watch and share. Always proud to work with you, @MeghanMcCain!'

Jones also got support on Twitter from other right-leaning voters. 

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In October, Van Jones (top right) said that Trump 'doesn't get credit' for the 'good things' he has done for the black community. Jones appeared alongside Jake Tapper (left) and commentator Scott Jennings (bottom right) on CNN on October 23

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Jones has praised Trump in the past for signing into law the First Step Act, which is aimed at easing prison sentences for those convicted of nonviolent offenses. Trump is seen above in the Oval Office with Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old black woman who was freed from prison by the president after she served more than 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense. The image was taken in the Oval Office on August 28, 2020

'Van I'm Conservative and don't always agree with you but [I 100 per cent] applaud you for putting the people ahead of the hits you knew you would take,' wrote one Twitter user.

'History will judge you as one of the best voices of this divided period.'

Rick Kimball tweeted: 'Van, applaud you for making this film. I am a right leaning independent and look forward to seeing the film.

'I agree we need to find ways to better understand each other and bring our country together.

'I hope the film will help me better understand those I disagree with.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Van you are walking a really high tight rope but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you come from a place of Integrity with Kindness in your Heart. 

'You my Brother are doing good work don't be swayed.' 

Liberals on Twitter, however, were not as forgiving.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Cool. It’s crazy how @VanJones68 went from a man who worked side by side with Prince to empower vulnerable communities to being someone who enables white supremacy and works with a woman who is married to a white nationalist.'

That was a reference to Meghan McCain's husband, Ben Domenech, the co-founder and publisher of The Federalist, a right-leaning online news source.

James Horns tweeted: 'I do believe you’ve done amazing work Van but I also agree with Ana. Candace Owens has said horrific & deplorable false statements about black people.'