CNN political commentator Van Jones on Wednesday said it’s “unfair” that people hold Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to different standards as the polls continue to show an extremely tight race between the two candidates less than two weeks out of Election Day.
CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Jones to comment on a new Wall Street Journal poll’s findings showing Trump leading Harris by nearly 10 percentage points on the question of which candidate would bring needed change to the role.
“Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not taking the same exam,” Jones replied. “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.”
Jones issued a forceful defense of Harris, noting that while she is focused on making the case for her candidacy to the American people, her Republican opponent appears more intent on making bizarre comments, including about the size of the penis of late golfer Arnold Palmer.
“She has policies, she may not articulate them perfectly every time, she may not put the stories in the right places, but she’s fighting for actual ideas that will help real people, and he’s talking about peoples’ penises,” Jones said.
Jones’ comments took place during a panel discussion on CNN about Harris’ performance at a town hall hosted by the network, where she took questions from undecided and persuadable voters in Pennsylvania, a key battleground in the election.
Harris has previously addressed whether the “double standard” between her and Trump frustrates her during an interview on Charlamagne Tha God’s podcast, expressing confidence that Americans will ultimately reject the former president.
“I can’t let frustration get in the way of of doing what I need to do right now,” she said. “I do believe he is a threat to our democracy. I do believe he is unfit, and I believe he’s unstable, and I think many people believe that.”
Still, the race, less than two weeks away, remains incredibly close. The Journal’s poll shows that Trump leads Harris by 2 percentage points nationwide.