Van Jones' sympathy for white men dying from opioid abuse isn't quite resonating with libs on Twitter

Bernie Sanders was the headliner Saturday night at the People’s Summit in Chicago, a gathering of around 4,000 progressives who came to hear speakers like Sanders, Linda Sarsour, Danny Glover, and many more.

Emotions are definitely still raw at #PPLSummit. At least one Bernie Sanders fan started crying when I asked about the 2016 election.

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 10, 2017

Joy Manbeck came to the #PPLSummit from Pennsylvania. She's sporting a revolution tattoo and said Bernie Sanders changed her life. pic.twitter.com/v5R4znXYjl

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 10, 2017

Also speaking Saturday was Van Jones, who managed to anger a lot of the Hillary Clinton faithful with his statement that the Democrats “set fire” to a billion dollars in her losing bid for president.

Van Jones unloading on 2016 Dem campaign: "A billion dollars, and they set it on fire! A billion dollars for consultants!" #PPLSummit

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 10, 2017

Van Jones at #PPLSummit: Hillary Clinton didn't spend money on white working class or black people. "They spent it on themselves."

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 10, 2017

Clearly @VanJones68 is unaware that Black women are the most educated US demographic & we voted #HillaryClinton by 94%.

— Maxine Baptiste (@brownsugar7878) June 10, 2017

With allies like Van Jones who needs enemies. Sits on his ass & comments, never seen his actual work. Sell out to CNN

— Stellaa (@stellaaaa) June 10, 2017

Wow, they are just piling on lately. #StillWithHer

— Nichole Mathis (@sunflower_nic) June 10, 2017

Sounds like sanders & sanders and nina turner, linda sarsour, van jones . . . all had a hate hillary fest again. they are shameful.

— Sunflower Soul (@SunflowerSoul71) June 11, 2017

OK, that line didn’t fly very well at the People’s Summit. Maybe, just suppose, what if Jones argued that rather than progressives reflexively treating white men like rhetorical punching bags, they went to where the pain is to promote solutions? Even if that place was populated by — gasp! — white men?

Jones went on to cite the deadly opioid crisis in small, red towns and compared it to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Where were the progressives in response to the bodies stacking up in the morgues in rural America?

Here’s a two-minute snippet that’s well worth listening to for context.

"Where Trump won, pain was there and progressives were not. The life expectancy of white men is dropping." –@VanJones68 #PPLSummit #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/TKzaUl52Wm

— RoseAnn DeMoro (@RoseAnnDeMoro) June 10, 2017

You mean like the pain the black community always been facing

— ?⛓XanzKafka⛓? (@julesnot4u) June 10, 2017

Something tells us this kind of advice isn’t going to fly either.

Van Jones: White men are sometimes unfairly the punching bags of liberals while their life expectancy rates are getting shorter.

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 10, 2017

yeah… ok. https://t.co/TJVyZc1Ixw

— jelani cobb (@jelani9) June 11, 2017

The universe where problems don't exist until white people experience them.

— Jeffrey Vagle (@jvagle) June 11, 2017

Like the "opioid crisis". Suddenly it's a "disease" and a solution and care must be found immediately.

— P.Thorn (@Pthorn6A) June 11, 2017

Hey, talk to former President Obama and his good pal Macklemore, the white rapper with the alt-right haircut. They’re the ones who teamed up to develop a rapid response to the opioid epidemic.

Yep I can officially say Van Jones is lost. Sighs.

— Che ? (@CheReal85) June 11, 2017

@Yamiche Bye @VanJones68 adding to my "used to admire list"✌️ See #bencarson ✌️

— MONIQUE (@MschRn) June 11, 2017

I'm so over white guys right now.

— Andrea Rogalski (@Rogals) June 11, 2017

You can see why he appeals to the Bernie Bros.

— Ari Keys ❄️ (@arionkeys) June 11, 2017

You're kidding. He didn't really say that, did he? What was context?

— Pamela Mays McDonald (@pammaysmcdonald) June 10, 2017

Hold me in this chair before I start walking to Chicago!

— Mariposa (@SparkleNLace) June 10, 2017

@VanJones68 I used to have so much respect for you. You've been chipping away at that. Bigger chunks lately.

— Renee (@paix120) June 10, 2017

Ummm … did you actually hear my remarks? Or are you basing your reaction based on a tweet?

— Van Jones (@VanJones68) June 10, 2017

Welcome to Twitter!

There's no evidence of any of this coonery.

— Donald Parham (@d_parham) June 11, 2017

What is the gain for black men who consistently make these type of statements?

— FaahStar (@FaahStar1) June 10, 2017

Why is Van Jones always on a white apologist campaign? #wrongside

— Profanity Jane ? (@nevertrumptoo) June 10, 2017

Auditioning for Fox News?? ??

— Krissy (@DC_Krista) June 10, 2017

When white men's life expectancy is as low as black men's maybe we will have more sympathy.

— The Resistance (@TaritaC) June 10, 2017

Maybe their lives are getting shorter becuz they can't compete when women and POC rise. We take "their" jobs. Man up. We aren't stopping.

— Laurie Donahue-Hjelle ? (@Ldonahuehjelle) June 11, 2017

That's called karma.

— LAURA (@lauraREAgent) June 10, 2017

Their lifetimes should be shorter because they're wicked.

— OHWELL! (@chuckie2828) June 10, 2017

Never forget: pic.twitter.com/H5G2TY8HVw

— PragmaticObotsUnite (@PragObots) June 10, 2017

https://twitter.com/CincyWhiteGuy/status/873596167506075648

pic.twitter.com/Zv6QDWGVOp

— Flow? (@1MarcusFlowers) June 10, 2017

Wait. WHAT? As a white person I can say, they're eating bad, drinking too much & using drugs. No one told them to do that. #Responsibility

— REDACTED Human Scum (@mrshellwinger) June 10, 2017

Agreed, I'm going to save my sympathy for someone else. WTF is he talking about??

— 2dachs (@2doxies1) June 11, 2017

Oh, he coonin.

— Ta-Nehisi Coates is my Tolstoy (@CEJDaddyD) June 10, 2017

White men are behind the reasons they are getting punched and dying young.

— Tre-R.I.C.H World (@lighttips2) June 10, 2017

Yes, Van… let me worry more about white men… I suppose rich folk have it pretty hard too?

— Rich Teknaw (@RichWanket) June 10, 2017

Van was barred from the cookout as soon as he made the comment about Trump being president. I pay anything he says absolutely no mind.

— This too shall pass (@sharpetax) June 11, 2017

@VanJones68 has an opportunity to speak to a large audience & instead of taking advantage of teachable moment he empathizes w/white men?

— Native Wakandan Here on H1B Work Visa (@MargueriteEHill) June 10, 2017

Is this CPAC?

— Bernie is a multi-millionaire ? (@GriffTheImpaler) June 10, 2017

And let’s have a big hand for Van Jones everybody!

A journalistically dishonest, out-of-context tweet for attention @Yamiche. Gross misrepresentation of @VanJones68's #PPLSummit speech. Smdh.

— TrekkerTeach (@trekkerteach12) June 10, 2017

https://twitter.com/CapdCrusadr117/status/873719711279788033