Story highlights The faceoff reflected the larger debate about the 2016 election

The CNN analysts were passionate but respectful during the on-air confrontation

Washington, D.C. (CNN) If the racial tension underlying the 2016 presidential race could be distilled into a single cable news moment, this was it.

On Tuesday night, CNN contributors Van Jones and Jeffrey Lord became locked in a fiery and emotional debate in which each accused the other side's party party of stoking racial tensions.

The extended debate, which was both passionate and personal, served as a microcosm of the national discussion over racial divisiveness and the increasingly negative tone of the presidential campaign.

"There's a lot of blame to go around for the tone of this campaign," David Axelrod, the chief strategist on Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, said when their intense but respectful on-air faceoff was over. "You're seeing a preview of it here."

The debate started when Jones, a Democrat, criticized Donald Trump for refusing to unequivocally condemn white supremacist David Duke and the Klu Klux Klan.

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