What Is 'Whitelash'? Video Of CNN’s Van Jones Creating Word After Donald Trump Wins Presidency

CNN’s Van Jones cited race and dubbed the term “whitelash” early Wednesday morning to describe Republican Donald Trump’s presidential victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. The commentator was in disbelief and admittedly upset after Trump pulled off one of the biggest upsets in American political history.

Voters were responding to the presidency of Barack Obama and honed in on what parents will tell their children about a president-elect many have deemed a "bigot," Jones said.

"You tell your kids don't be a bully, you tell your kids don't be a bigot.... and then you have this outcome," Jones said. "You have people putting children to bed tonight and they are afraid of breakfast. They're afraid of 'How do I explain this to my children?'"

Jones added: "This was a whitelash against a changing country. It was whitelash against a black president in part. And that's the part where the pain comes."

The term “whitelash” became one of the biggest trends and hashtags on Twitter following Jones statement and into the early Wednesday morning hours.

Trump, picked to be the country’s 45th commander-in-chief, often used divisive rhetoric on the campaign trail, including proposing to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. and building a wall along the country’s border with Mexico. Statements like those fueled Democrats’ accusations that he was unfit to serve.

However, that rhetoric hit the core base of Trump’s supporters throughout his campaign: older white males. Exit polls showed that of 24,537 respondents, 48 percent of white males age 18-to-29 picked Trump. Numbers only improved with age as the 30-to-44 demographic was 55 percent, the 45-to-64 demo 63 percent and white males older than 65 showed 58 percent support for Trump, according to CNN.