As if CNN host Don Lemon doesn’t have enough controversy in his life following cries of misogyny and unprofessional behavior toward women, he’s now been caught in a hot-mic moment talking trash about popular left-wing comedian Jon Stewart.
A “CNN This Morning” segment on Monday was focused on the former “Daily Show” host’s interview with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, with Stewart taking the Biden official to task over not being able to account for where all the money goes in the military.
“If I give you a billion dollars, and you can’t tell me what happened to it? That to me is wasteful. That means you are not responsible,” Stewart said. “But if you can’t tell me where it went, then what am I supposed to think?
“We got out of 20 years of war and the Pentagon got a $50 billion raise. Like that’s shocking to me now,” he told Hicks. “I may not understand exactly the ins and outs and the incredible magic of an audit, but I’m a human being who lives on the Earth and can’t figure out how $850 billion to a department means that the rank and file still have to be on food stamps. Like to me, that’s f— corruption.”
Lemon was heard saying that Stewart has more “leeway” as a comedian to challenge the Pentagon official.
“He gets a lot of leeway with the comedian thing, though,” a seemingly envious Lemon opined.
The irony here is that rational people look at Lemon, who checks multiple boxes as a gay black man, to suggest he has plenty of “leeway.”
The comment was followed by awkward silence, suggesting that Lemon thought he was speaking to his co-anchors off-air. It was at this moment that Lemon scrambled to cover his tracks.
“We’re just discussing that Jon Stewart is so much more than a comedian — he’s a thought leader,” he quickly explained.
Co-host Poppy Harlow commented on Stewart’s ongoing efforts to stand up for veterans, saying he has “fought so loud and so hard and uses this big platform to keep doing so well.”
Lemon interjected to lay a second coat on his coverup, “We were saying when I said comedian and television host, he’s so much more than that. I don’t even know if you need to qualify. Jon Stewart is that, but good interview there.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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