Not long before Democrats seized control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections, political analyst and former Obama aide Van Jones said that his heart had been “restored” while discussing the projected results on CNN.
“My heart has been restored. It is the end of one-party rule in the United States. Thank God. And the beginning of a new Democratic party,” said Jones, noting that many of the new elected officials are “younger, browner, cooler, more women [and] more veterans.”
Earlier in the night, Jones had called the early projections “heart-breaking.” Changing his tune as more results came in, Jones went on to say that diverse candidates “can win in Michigan, can win in Pennsylvania, can win in Ohio.”
“We have the first Muslim women, the first Native American women, the first black woman from Massachusetts, the first Latina from Texas,” he said. “It may not be a blue wave, it’s a rainbow wave. It’s something happening out there and I’m happy about it.”
The “blue wave” never fully materialized as the GOP gained ground in the Senate and preserved key governorships. Later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to minimize the Democratic party’s House victory.
“Maybe you get a ripple, but I certainly don’t think that there’s a blue wave,” she told reporters, calling Republicans’ retaining control of the Senate a “huge moment and victory” for President Donald Trump.
On Twitter, Trump applauded the GOP. “Tremendous success tonight,” he wrote. “Thank you to all!”
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