CNN’s Van Jones receives civility award from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos



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CNN contributor Van Jones received the “Courage and Civility Award” and $ 100 million from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday.

Bezos made the announcement of the award alongside his personally funded Blue Origin space flight that he planned to award to Van Jones and Chef José Andrés. The Amazon billionaire claimed he rewarded these two for their “demonstrated courage” and their attempts to be “unifier” in a divisive world.

“We need unifiers, not defamers,” Bezos said. “We need people who argue and act harshly for what they believe. But they always do it with civility and never ad hominem attacks. Unfortunately, we live in a world where this is too often not the case. . But we have models. “

Jones accepted the award on a live CNN broadcast anchored by Anderson Cooper.

“You bet on me and I appreciate it,” Jones said.

The award is part of a philanthropic initiative that gives an individual $ 100 million to donate to charities or foundations of their choice.

“They can give it all to their own charity. Or they can share the wealth. It’s up to them to decide,” Bezos said.

Jones’ acceptance of the award comes after years the CNN commentator has made controversial and controversial statements.

Most notably, Van Jones has previously called former President Donald Trump’s election victory “a boost against a black president.”

JEFF BEZOS RTI TO THANK AMAZON EMPLOYEES, CUSTOMERS FOR PAYING FOR A SPACE FLIGHT: “I WOULD LIKE A REFUND”

“It’s hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us. You tell your kids, don’t be a bully. You tell your kids, don’t be a bigot … And then you have this result …. how can I explain this to my children? ” Jones said in 2016. “It was a ‘white eyelash.’ It was a ‘whiplash’ against an evolving country. It was partly a ‘whiplash’ against a black president.”

In 2019, Jones commented on Trump’s State of the Union saying “I saw this as psychotically inconsistent speech with cookies and dog poo.”

Jones also attacked other Republican politicians with the same vitriol. Following South Carolina Senator Tim Scott’s response to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union, Jones hinted that this choice was made only because of his race.

“That said, there is a reason they hosted him,” Jones commented. “He’s the best they’ve got. He can get that message across, he can talk about it – he can try to polish all the Republican nonsense without the sharp edges better than the rest.”

Additionally, Jones also equated the National Rifle Association with the Ku Klux Klan in a CNN segment in 2018.

“So now what’s happening is you have a whole generation of young people who basically see the NRA as their enemy. To them the NRA is like the KKK.”

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The announcement of the award came after Jeff Bezos and three others were launched in a Bezos-funded “New Shepard” capsule. After the trip, Bezos thanked his customers and Amazon employees for helping make space travel possible, which drew backlash from various critics.

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