Former Obama adviser says excitement at RNC feels like 'Obama 2008:' 'There's something happening'

Former Obama adviser Van Jones argued Thursday that the energy at this week's Republican National Convention was comparable to what he saw when former President Obama was first nominated in 2008.

Jones, now a CNN senior political commentator, talked about the palpable "spirit" and enthusiasm he could feel among the people at the RNC.

After CNN contributor Scott Jennings spoke with excitement about wrestler Hulk Hogan, UFC head Dana White and former President Trump's upcoming speeches at the RNC, Jones said, "This spirit that this guy [Jennings] has, you guys think it’s because he’s drunk, he’s not, this whole thing is like this." 

"The last time I was at a convention that felt like this was Obama 2008. There's something happening," he said.

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One of his fellow panelists joked that Jones "wrote a headline" with that statement. 

Earlier in the evening, Jones commented on the former president enduring a litany of challenges before standing ready to receive the Republican nomination.

"Dreams become nightmares and nightmares become dreams. You're watching a nightmare become a dream for Donald Trump," Jones said. "He has had a nightmarish summer with, you know, convictions and indictments and all kinds of stuff, almost got shot. It's becoming a dream for him."

But for President Joe Biden, he argued, the dream has become a nightmare.

"Biden's the opposite. The dream that he had for himself as a young man to stand up and to rescue this country and to move it in a positive direction he actually delivered, he actually delivered on that. He did beat all those odds. He has done extraordinary things. He is an extraordinary man," he said. "But by holding on too long it’s becoming a nightmare. And the donors who have written huge checks for him, I mean the biggest checks are the ones who are stepping back." 

He followed by noting that Biden's "peers," like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, "are now turning on him, and now tonight he's sick and he's watching all this happen. It may take him a moment, but I believe he will get where he needs to go. This is a terrible, terrible moment for Joe Biden."

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Jones has criticized Democrats and credited strong moves by Republicans multiple times in recent weeks, particularly Wednesday after Biden announced he had COVID-19 a few days after Trump narrowly avoided an attempted assassination.

"If you pull back and look at this thing: strength versus weakness. A bullet couldn‘t stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden," Jones said after the COVID news broke.

He also warned that TV personality and model Amber Rose’s RNC address Monday in support of Trump was the "most dangerous speech" for the Democratic Party.

Jones remarked at the time, "That is a young woman of color. She’s describing the experience a lot of people have, feeling that maybe if you’re around too many liberals you might get criticized too much, or you might not be able to speak your mind. And she spoke to it really well."

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He has also argued that the Democratic Party has been trying to hide its internal division.

"I'm going to be honest," Jones said in early July in the wake of the debate. "Everybody comes on the air and says all this great stuff, but behind the scenes, it's full-scale panic."

Fox News' Gabriel Hays, Jeffrey Clark, and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.