Democrats have long derided Donald Trump as a vulgar fool.

But former Obama adviser Van Jones thinks otherwise.

In a recent interview, the progressive CNN commentator not only called Mr. Trump the smartest man in the room but said that his party has to do better than that in explaining why it lost to him.

“Guys, can we cut it out? Donald Trump is not an idiot. Let me just be very clear. Donald Trump is smarter than me, you, and all of his critics,” Mr. Jones told CNN reporter Chris Cilizza in an interview on Mr. Cilizza’s YouTube channel.

“You know how I know? Because he has the White House, the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court, the popular vote,” Mr. Jones said.

There’s just no arguing with his success, winning a presidential election in the face of overt mainstream media hostility and other huge headwinds, he said.

“He has a massive media ecosystem, bigger than the mainstream, built around him, and for him, and a religious fervor in a political movement around him. And his best buddy is the richest person in the history of the world, and the most relevant Kennedy is with him,” Mr. Jones added.

’The Democrats’ strategy of hostility toward Mr. Trump and contempt for his supporters is just a losing formula, Mr. Jones said.

“We’re the idiots,” he said. “We lost. So we have to go back in the locker room and we have to sit down and figure out how in the hell did we get beat.

“And when you look at it closely, it’s the arrogance, it’s the elitism, it’s not respecting people, it’s not listening to people,” Mr. Jones explained.

• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.