CNN commentator Van Jones has lambasted campus liberals for promoting a “useless” and “obnoxious” strain of political activism which crumbles on contact with reality.
The cable news pundit criticised students at an event held at the University of Chicago last week.
Jones said: “You are creating a kind of liberalism that the minute it crosses the street into the real world, that is not just useless, but obnoxious and dangerous.”
He also directly attacked campus safe space culture, which he said has warped beyond all recognition from a plan to keep students physically safe:
I don’t want you to be safe ideologically. I don’t want you to be safe emotionally. I want you to be strong — that’s different. I’m not going to pave the jungle for you. Put on some boots and learn how to deal with adversity.
The warning was apt given that the University of Chicago is one of the few institutions to stand up to safe spaces, issuing a widely-reported letter last year to students, warning them not to expect to be coddled.
Jones gained momentary notoriety in the wake of Donald Trump’s election by branding the result a “whitelash”, sparking a slew of comment pieces and helping to cement one notion of a Trump voter.
Since then the former Obama adviser has remained a vocal critic of the new administration – but one who is prepared to meet his opponents head-on.