OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
CNN host Don Lemon has had another run-in with another host he appears to have offended. As his show “CNN This Morning” plummets in the ratings the host offended his co-host Poppy Harlow as he suggested that 50-year-old Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is past her prime.
“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, When a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he said before Harlow interrupted.
“What are you talking — Wait…,” she said.
“That’s not according to me,” Lemon responded.
“Prime for what?” Harlow said.
“It depends. It’s just like, prime. If you look it up. If you Google when is a woman in her prime, it’ll say 20s, 30s, 40s,” Lemon said.
“Forties! Oh my God, I have another decade,” Harlow said.
“I’m not saying I agree with that. So I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime,” lemon said, stumbling as he backtracked.
“Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or are you talking about prime for being president?” Harlow pressed.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s and 40s. I’m just saying Nikki Haley should careful about saying that politics are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. She would not be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is,” Lemon said.
Don Lemon: "Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s…"
Poppy Harlow: "Are you talking about prime for like child bearing?"
"Don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying what the facts are! Google it!" pic.twitter.com/n1HmtkWTpl
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2023
It comes as Lemon has had his issues with fellow co-host Kaitlan Collins.
Last week, during a segment on “CNN This Morning,” Lemon delayed a commercial break because he just could not believe comments made by a House Republican in an interview with Collins, his co-host whom he previously screamed at.
The segment began by playing a clip of Collins’s interview earlier this week with GOP Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Collins and Comer were discussing upcoming House investigations into Hunter Biden and his infamous laptop.
Comer also noted the Twitter Files and how internal emails appeared to show the FBI targeted stories related to Biden for suppression. It also included messages from prior Twitter employees about the decision to censor the New York Post for breaking the story on Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020, just one month before the presidential election.
When the clip was done playing, Lemon couldn’t contain himself and refused to cut to a planned commercial.
Instead, he not only tore into Comer for his comments, but he also seemed to take a few swipes at Collins.
“That’s the time that we’re in, where facts are sort of flexible and you just throw things out there – citing uncredible sources, like citing the New York Post as a credible source and saying that facts are – it’s just, I can’t believe that we’re here,” Lemon said.
Co-host Poppy Harlow jumped in to defend Collins, saying she was “great” in the interview.
Lemon awkwardly did not initially join in on the praise and once “outro music” began to play so the show could cut to a commercial, Lemon refused to move on.
“Hold on please with the music,” he said, the music immediately shutting off.
He then claimed there is no “shared reality” with someone like Comer.
“American people are going to have to suffer through all of this stuff from election deniers to people who don’t believe in facts, we don’t have a shared reality. And now it has taken center stage,” he said.
Harlow praised Collins a second time but Lemon again refused to join her.
It wasn’t until later in the show when Lemon finally praised Collins, saying, “As I was watching that very good interview by Kaitlin Collins with Comer, and I had to come out and say something because he is citing sources as credible that are not credible, he is talking about facts of something that’s kind of flexible, and maybe you believe one thing or maybe another, facts are facts.”
Dip💩 @donlemon Calls Off Commercial Break to Go Off on @kaitlancollins Interview With #JamesComer. Which I don't understand, since she did a good job. Props to @PoppyHarlowCNN for standing up for her colleague. pic.twitter.com/TFiznFyqjb
— Sn00pster 🎙️ (@sn00pdad) February 8, 2023
According to a recent report from the New York Post, several sources said that Lemon “screamed” at Collins following an on-air incident on the set of “CNN This Morning,” with tensions continuing to rise as the show tanks and as Lemon, apparently, is unhappy sharing on-air duties with Collins and fellow co-host Poppy Harlow.
