CNN’s Don Lemon drew a scathing rebuke from President Donald Trump after the prime-time anchor was keeled over in laughter as his show guests smeared the president’s supporters as “credulous boomer rubes.”
Lemon couldn’t contain his humor, at one point wiping away tears as New York Times columnist Wajahat Ali and former GOP strategist Rick Wilson poked fun at Trump’s base during special live coverage of the impeachment trial late Saturday.
The cheeky mockery didn’t sit well with Trump, who took to Twitter to blast Lemon, 53, as “the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!).”
Lemon uttered the cackle heard ’round the world when Wilson brought up the clash between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and an NPR reporter at last week’s proceedings, during which the secretary reportedly cursed the journalist and challenged her to find Ukraine on a blank map.
“He’s just trying to demean her. And look, [Pompeo] also knows deep within his heart that Donald Trump could not find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter ‘U’ and a picture of an actual, physical crane next to it,” Wilson began, sending Lemon into a fit of laughter.
“He knows that this is, you know, an administration defined by ignorance of the world,” he added. “And so that’s partly [Pompeo] playing to their base and playing to their audience — you know, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump.”
Wilson went on to depict what a typical Trump supporter might sound like, using a heavy Southern drawl and saying, “Donald Trump’s the smart one — y’all elitists are dumb!”
“‘You elitists with your geography and your maps — and your spelling!'” Ali chimed in, leaving Lemon tickled pink.
“Oh my gosh — I can’t,” the host managed to mutter between chuckles. “Sorry, sorry. Hold on. Give me a second.”
Naturally, the CNN panel drew fierce backlash among Trump supporters and the president’s re-election campaign. His critics weren’t as bothered, however, and were instead focused on the fact that Trump, 73, had only centered his outrage on Lemon.
“I like that it’s the white guy who makes fun of Trump; but it’s Don Lemon, who merely laughed, that Trump attacks on Twitter,” comedic actor John Fugelsang tweeted.
In response to Trump, another critic wrote: “Wait…. why are you mad at Don Lemon? He’s not even the one who dragged you. Your racism is showing (again).”
“You know how things are going really, really, really badly for Donald Trump?” political analyst Bill Palmer joked. “He stays up all night attacking Don Lemon.”
Watch more in the video below.
