Relatives of 9/11 victims yesterday cheered the resignation of Van Jones, the White House environmental adviser who quit under pressure because of fiery remarks about the terrorist attacks that he made before joining the administration.
“I’m dismayed the president would select him for a prominent position. He’s not fit to be a dog catcher,” said Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the pilot of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
“He’s a hate-monger. That’s what he is — a hate-monger,” she said.
Burlingame was referring to Jones’ calling Republicans “a- -holes” in February and to his signing a 2004 petition calling for an investigation into whether then-President George W. Bush allowed the attacks to happen to use them as a “pretext to war.”
Retired firefighter Lee Ielpi, whose firefighter son, Jonathan, was killed at the World Trade Center, also applauded Jones’ resignation.
“I think comments of that nature foster doubt and suspicion,” he said.
“We have a sound consensus of what happened on 9/11,” he added. “Continuing down that path — and calling people names — is dangerous.”
The White House announced Jones’ resignation in a surprise e-mail sent shortly after midnight yesterday.
In a statement, Jones, who specialized in “green jobs,” said that “opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me.”