Logic Pretzel: Lemon Promotes Journalistic Integrity While Defending Bias Against Republicans

CNN’s Day of the New
06/15/22
8:22.57 AM ET

JOHNBERMAN: Don Lemon joins us today. He hosts a convenient show on CNN called Don Lemon Tonight. Don Lemon, who is the host of Don Lemon Tonight on CNN, is also the author. Here is the fire: What I say to my friends about racism. Don’t worry, it will be nice to see you. 

DON LEMON : We are both very happy to see you. 
  
BERMAN What’s the big takeaway for you? 

LEMON: This is how you talk to your friends about race and bigotry. And this is — the equipment that they had, that’s what separates quite honestly this crazy, which is of another magnitude just from your every average — uh, everyday hate-filled bigot. It is amazing. They are 30 people that came together. I imagine there may be more and they are recruiting more. 30 some young men, who are — you know — people who are trying to celebrate pride, who are trying to celebrate quite frankly the joys and the freedoms and the luxuries of being an American which is — should be afforded to all of us — uh, and they want to go against that, and create harm and havoc. 

The thing that got me is — and Sara said it — that they wanted to raise a voice against the moral depravity which prevents events such as — like this, as this to take place. Not even the — considering, right, the hypocrisy here, their own moral depravity of trying to disrupt this event and possibly harm people. This is against American law, our society’s laws, and certainly against any religious laws I have read or been privy to. That’s the hypocrisy of their actions. 

BRIANNA KEILAR: The mother of one of the guys, of one of the 31, who is from Utah — he’s from Utah — spoke to The Daily Beast, and I think we all have a question about what prompts someone to do this, or to join a group like this, and she said this isn’t the son I raised, but she felt that he was looking for some kind of brotherhood, that he was actually brought in, in part, by the community that this group gave to him after some personal issues that he was having in his life. Let me know what your thoughts are on that. 

LEMON: Look it’s, um — uh, I have empathy for people who are dealing with this, especially a mother, you know, I can only imagine my mother and you as a mother going through this. However, I am always amazed when people tell me that they didn’t know. 

KEILAR : She was aware. She — she had some tip-offs. 

DON LEMON: But I — well, yes, but that’s — uh — 

KEILAR – But she isn’t sure where it all came from. 

LEMON: Yes, we do. Of course we do. See what happened January 6th. The internet can make it easy for people to be coopted by some people. And we should not pretend that that does not happen, and that people can be co-opted by bigotry and hatred — um, some of which our country was founded on, and some of which we — most of which we haven’t dealt with in our society. 

(…)

8.26.46 AM ET

BERMAN: Don. You had an interview two nights ago with the White House Press secretary that’s still being covered today. People are still talking about it because, first of all it was a terrific interview on a wide range of subjects, but you asked about reports that are now coming out — there was a New York Times story, you’re hearing it from other Democrats as well — who are asking questions about whether President Biden — these are Democrats asking questions — about whether President Biden should be the nominee in 2024. You can play an exchange. 

[Clip begins]

LEMON [on CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight, 06/13/22]: Does the President have the stamina — physically and mentally — do you think, to continue on, even after 2024? 

KARINE JEANPIERRE [on CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight, 06/13/22]:Don, I’m asking you this question. Oh my goodness. He’s President of the United States. You know, he — I can’t even keep up with it. Our return from New Mexico was just. We just got back — um, from California. Uh, that is — I, I — that is not a question that we should be even asking. 

[End of clip]

BERMAN – What did you make of Don’s response? 

LEMON: Yes, we must be asking this question. First, I am a journalist. That’s my job, is to ask questions and as the person who represents the administration and the President, it’s her job to answer those questions. It would be a waste of my time to not ask those questions. This is the truth. I didn’t question whether — I’m not being ageist and saying that the President of the United States — of, of the United States, is too old to be — uh, President. We can all judge this. That’s an individual decision, I believe. But um — I do think that as the President of the United States, we should know the health history, both physically and mentally, of the United States, the President of the United States. 

The capabilities of the previous President were questioned and our questions were a constant. He had Covid — can he physically be the President of the United States? We — it has been said even in these hearings he is unhinged — um, that he, you know, he is out of his mind because of what he — you know, things that he was doing. Now I’m not comparing the two men, but it is our job as journalists, and as Americans, to know the physical and mental capacity of the President of — of the United States. 

This is what I’m trying to say. Joe Biden seems like a decent man. It’s not hard to believe that he will turn 80 in a few years. I am in my 50s. My memory is not good. I am not as sharp and sharp as I was. 

BERMAN, Late 50s. 

LEMON: We must stop this. This is what we’re going fight over. However, it’s important to remember that I am not as sharp now as I was in the past. And — and the job of President of the United States is a really, really tough job. Maybe he is — I’m sure he’s up to the job, but it is my job as a journalist to ask. And I had — the reason I asked that question is because of — there are reports that are coming out, there was a report in The New York Times about what Democrats are saying, that there are whispers and we know that as journalists, we know that there are whispers, and we — we interview the President, we watch him in press conferences, we watch him do interviews on — he was on Jimmy Kimmel the other night, and quite frankly I had trouble following him. He was — his answers are not succinct. 

And I understand that he is — uh, an issue as a stutterer as a child. I interviewed him several times, leading up to the his — his, you know, when he was running for President, and as President of the United States I’ve interviewed him, and he has trouble sometimes connecting and his answers sometimes don’t make sense. As a journalist I’m curious about whether this American President is mentally and physically able to continue his presidency as the President of the United States. I hear him and can see him almost every day. And as someone who is — my mother is, will be 80 this year, I doubt that she would want to be President of the United States and she is a sharp woman. So I think it is important to think seriously about this. Being more active in the political process is a plus for younger people. Of course, younger people can participate in the political process. We need to consider at what point in life we are participating, which is Donald Trump who follows the United States President. 

BERMAN: I’’ve also seen you on social media, Don — uh, this —

LEMON: Wait, hang on. And, and, I think liberals — hold on, this is — you’re putting up the Lebron thing — but liberals need to stop having a double standard when it comes to questions that we can ask Democrats and questions that we can ask Republicans. Many times I have reported on Donald Trump’s fitness to be in office. And it is okay and expected for journalists to report on the current President — President’s fitness for office, whether that President is a Democrat or a Republican. Each must meet the same standards.

(…)

8.33.38 AM ET

LEMON: But let me tell you, we have to —

BERMAN 

LEMON: Just — we have — we cannot have a false sense of equivalency about what is happening when it comes to politics in our country. One party is not functioning in truth right now. This has led to the American people being misled. That is because I was a Republican Party member years ago. I’m not a member of any party right now, but we have to — we cannot pretend as journalists that it is equal. This isn’t the case. Democrats will do what they like, which is to be Democrats. And you — we can deal with those things. It is extremely dangerous to see the Republican Party doing what they are now, not being a voice for democracy and remaining silent. We cannot have all of — we cannot fight all of these things and make a better world and do what Larry Summers told me last night about getting our economy together if we don’t have a functioning democracy. And so we, as journalists, need to stand up for that and not pretend that it’s — uh, that we can “both sides” this. This is not a “both sides” thing.