CNN and MSNBC anchors hold back tears after stunning Trump victory

MSNBC and CNN hosts held back tears and asked questions about the state of America as they anticipated a stunning victory for former President Donald Trump in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

CNN political commentator Van Jones appeared to be on the verge of tears as it became increasingly clear that former President Donald Trump would comfortably defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday's election.

Jones, the former Obama administration official and Democratic Party activist, offered a bleak assessment of the election late Tuesday night, saying he “woke up with a dream this morning” only to “go to bed with a nightmare.” .

“I'm thinking about the people who aren't in anyone's elite who are doing poorly tonight,” Jones told CNN's co-panelists on Tuesday, as vote counts in key battleground states showed Trump well positioned, to secure a second term in the White House.

Meanwhile, MSNBC host Jen Psaki, who served as White House press secretary during the Biden administration through 2022, predicted that the Democratic Party would begin to question her decision to oust President Joe Biden from the race.

“It will begin,” Psaki said late Tuesday night on NBC News, before the network predicted a winner. “She campaigned for 107 days. This is something we have not seen in history. And there will be a lot of questions about it, about the timing and about the impact.”

On Wednesday morning, The Associated Press, The New York Times and major news networks such as NBC and CNN had called the election for Trump.

The MSNBC panelists reflected on Trump's overwhelming dominance of swing states as well as a flood of Republican votes that gave the GOP control of the Senate.

“We talked about a red wave two years ago that never happened,” “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Wednesday. “I have to say, this is the biggest red wave I've seen since Ronald Reagan's 49-state victory in 1984. It seems like every Republican across the country has improved.”

“Morning Joe” panelist Claire McCaskill, the former U.S. senator from Missouri, acknowledged the “red wave” and questioned the Democratic Party's understanding of the country.

“I think we have to recognize that Donald Trump knows our country better than we do,” she said. “I think he's discovered that anger and, frankly, fear are far more powerful than turning to people's better angels. That anger and fear would work in this election.”

At around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported that Trump had won key battleground states and secured victory with 277 electoral votes.

CNN's Jones said that black women in particular, “who know a little bit about being demeaned” and having their “economic dreams crushed,” are “trading a lot of hope for a lot of harm” because “they were hoping that… “one of them might be considered worthy.”

Trump has promised to crack down on illegal immigration during his time in office. Jones said those who are “undocumented” have reason to “fear tonight.”

MSNBC panelists responded to an increasingly conservative country.

“First, America is much further to the right than at any time in our lifetime, even since the Reagan years,” Scarborough said.

The “Morning Joe” host said Republicans are likely to dominate all branches of government in the next few years.

“The scope and magnitude of this victory is tremendous,” Scarborough said Wednesday. “This is a Democratic Party that was just wiped out this morning.”

McCaskill claimed that Trump won the presidency by preying on voters' fears.

“Whether you're afraid of immigrants or afraid of transsexuals, he figured it out. And I think we all thought everyone's better angels would prevail,” she said. “It turns out that the better angels were going on vacation when Donald Trump came down the escalator. And they haven’t returned.”