Don Lemon just took @jfradioshow off the air after he called Lemon “lazy” and made excuses for @realDonaldTrump‘s racist comments about El Salvador, Haiti, and African countries. pic.twitter.com/kNVMoOxQlX
— Rantt News (@RanttNews) January 12, 2018
CNN’s Don Lemon didn’t care to mince words with a guest on his show Thursday evening who tried his darndest to defend outwardly racist comments by President Donald Trump.
Lemon’s on-air tiff with talk radio host John Fredericks which came amid national outrage over Trump’s remarks, in which the president questioned why the U. S. was allowing in immigrants from “shithole” countries like Haiti, El Salvador and countries in Africa. Trump also asked, “Why do we need more Haitians? Take ’em out,” according to several people who attended the Oval Office meeting.
The CNN host engaged fellow panelists in a candid discussion about the president’s racist remarks, during which Fredericks argued that the comments had nothing to do with the color of anyone’s skin.
“Well, Don, it’s not about race as you like to make it,” the radio host began by saying, “because that’s easy and lazy. It’s about economics.”
Frederick’s words drew visible reactions from fellow panelists, especially Republican political strategist Rick Wilson, who made an audible gasp of disbelief.
Lemon let the conservative pundit finish his comment before ripping into him on live TV, cutting off his mic, and ordering producers to remove him from the panel discussion.
“You know what, you know what, John Fredericks,” Lemon interjected. “John, until that last comment … Yeah, we’re going to cut you off.”
“I was going to let him speak until you doubly insulted me,” the CNN host continued. “… I don’t even need to respond to the lazy comment. I laid it all out in the thing. We can have this conversation and we don’t need someone who’s going to make excuses for racism.”
Fredericks was later brought back on, but not before giving Lemon an apology.
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you sit here and insult me,” Lemon said, later accepting the apology.
Hear more of what Lemon had to say below:
Don Lemon was spitting straight 🔥🔥🔥 tonight and speaking truth to power. #Norway #Maddow #Africa https://t.co/cVOVkEkMUZ
— Sir John (@AfroMindset) January 12, 2018
