Van Jones says Trump's SOTU speech was 'sweet-tasting candy filled with poison

CNN's Van Jones castigated President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech as "sweet-tasting candy filled with poison."

Here's the video of his caustic comments:

Here's what he said:

"Let me just say, master salesperson," Jones began, "used all of those stories really well."

"He was selling sweet-tasting candy with poison in it," he added, to laughter from other panelists.

"What he said, what he said about those young people," he continued, "he implied, he did it deliberately, that Dreamers are gang members. And when you look at the numbers, facts matter, facts matter."

"Facts matter that some Dreamers are gang members," said former senator Rick Santorum, challenging Jones.

"You want to know what the numbers are?" Jones interrupted. "Thirty-nine kids out of, this is according to the U.S. government. Thirty-nine kids..."

"It is completely unacceptable to take this issue," he added. "We have a moment now where 90 percent of the country agrees that these young people deserve a shot. And to just smear these young people, it's wrong, it's morally wrong."

What are the facts?

Statistics from the government support that "Dreamers" have less criminality than citizens, but this is likely because a prerequisite to receiving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status was that recipients had no criminal past.

President Trump has offered a plan to the Democrats where 1.8 million "Dreamers" could gain access to a pathway to citizenship, but Democrats are balking at his demand for $25 billion for the border wall and other immigration security.