Van Jones has apologized for a crass joke he made on Bill Maher’s show, saying “I messed up.”
While discussing disinformation online, Jones commented, ““Iran and Qatar have come up with a disinformation campaign that they are running through TikTok and Instagram that is massive. If you are a young person, you are opening up your phone, and all you see is — dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, Diddy, dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby.”
The so-called joke immediately sparked anger and condemnation online.
On Saturday Jones wrote on X, “Yeah, I messed up on this one. And I’m sorry. I was trying to raise awareness about foreign adversaries creating chaos online – which is undermining democracy everywhere. But what I said was easily misunderstood, and the way I said it was flat-out insensitive. Babies are dying every day in Gaza. Nobody should dispute that fact or make light of it in any way. To the people living in fear and burying family members every day, of all ages — I apologize.”
“I made a comment on ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ about the war in Gaza that was insensitive and hurtful,” Jones added on X Sunday. “I apologize. The suffering of the people of Gaza — especially the children — is not a punch line. I’m deeply sorry it came across that way. What’s happening to children in Gaza is heartbreaking. As a father, I can’t begin to imagine the pain their parents are enduring, unable to protect their kids from unimaginable harm. I’m praying and working for an immediate end to this war — and for peace and safety for every family caught in its path. I’m truly sorry for the pain my words caused to people who are already suffering more than anyone should.”
That apology is “positive but insufficient,” The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement Sunday.
CAIR also insisted Jones should “fully retract his false claim, acknowledge Israel’s responsibility for killing the children whose deaths he dismissed, recognize the Gaza genocide as a genocide, and meet with Palestinian-American leaders.”
“The only thing worse than Van Jones laughing about murdered children was his false claim that the images of those children show up on social media and anger young Americans because of a foreign disinformation campaign,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell in the statement.
“Van Jones’ initial apology is a positive but insufficient step. He still has not admitted that he lied about this imaginary conspiracy, nor has he even specifically acknowledged that Israel is responsible for both killing the children he callously dismissed and running a real, massive pressure campaign to censor social media.”
“Van Jones should retract his false claim, recognize Israel’s responsibility for the Gaza genocide, and meet with Palestinian leaders to correct the disinformation from the Israeli government that has clearly warped his views and his moral compass,” Mitchell concluded.
