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Don Lemon pops off losing gun debate: ‘When you are in black skin … then you can disagree with me’

April 20, 2023 | | Print Article

Vivek Ramaswamy, who just declared his 2024 presidential candidacy for the Republican nomination, absolutely pounded CNN’s Don Lemon on Wednesday, as the perpetually offended leftist took offense to the conservative’s stance on gun rights for black Americans.

On “CNN This Morning,” things exploded as Lemon expressed his outrage at statements Ramaswamy made at an NRA conference last week, recounting that Democrats in the South instituted gun laws to prevent black Americans from protecting their rights in the post-Civil War era.

(Video Credit: CNN)

Lemon twisted Ramaswamy’s words, accusing him of intimating that the Civil War was only fought to give black people gun rights. He chastised the Republican, telling him the statement “insulted” him as a black American.

Then he informed the candidate of Indian descent that he had no right to talk about what black people in America went through because he was not black.

Ramaswamy informed Lemon that he was missing his point. He also contended that they should be able to discuss the issue regardless of the color of their skin.

Lemon obviously lost it during the back-and-forth and wanted to make it clear he was offended. He even snapped at his producers who were saying something urgently to him in his earpiece. Which, of course, he evidently ignored.

The leftist host’s faux outrage surfaced after playing a clip of Ramaswamy speaking at the NRA convention in Indianapolis. He addressed the crowd, stating, “I want you to raise your hand if you know when the first anti-gun laws were passed in this country. Raise your hand if you do. 1865.”

“We fought a civil war in this country to give black Americans the equal protection under the law that we failed to secure them in 1776. But then you wanna know what happened? Southern states passed anti-gun laws that stopped black people from owning guns. The Democrat Party, then as in now, wanted to put them back in chains,” he charged.

Ramaswamy clarified to co-host Poppy Harlow that he was referring to current Democratic Party policies after mentioning former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society.” He asserted they are bad for black Americans just like those post-Civil War gun laws were. That’s when Lemon got his britches in a twist and started attacking the Republican over his statement.

(Video Credit: C-SPAN)

“I don’t really see what one has to do with the other — and using the Civil War to talk about black Americans — that war was not fought for black people to have guns,” Lemon interjected.

Ramaswamy responded, “That war was fought for black people to have freedoms in this country. Actually, that’s why the Civil War was fought.”

“Actually, a funny fact is — black people did not get to enjoy the other freedoms until their Second Amendment rights were secured,” he insisted.

That ticked Lemon off who shot back, “But black people still aren’t allowed to enjoy the freedoms as well in this country.”

“I disagree with you on that Don… I think you’re doing a disservice to this country by failing to recognize the fact that we have equality before the laws here,” Ramaswamy responded.

Lemon couldn’t resist… he threw the race card and arrogantly tried to put the Republican in his place, “Well, OK. When you are in black skin and you live in this country, then you can disagree with me.”

The conservative wasn’t having any of it and replied, “Don, I think we have to be able to talk about these issues in the open regardless of the color of our skin.”

“I think for you to compare 1865 and 1964 — I think it’s insulting to black people. It’s insulting to me as an African American. I don’t want to sit here and argue with you because it’s infuriating for you to put those things together,” Lemon petulantly proclaimed. “It’s not right, your telling of history is wrong.”

Ramaswamy asked exactly what was wrong with it and Lemon snapped, “You’re making people think that the Civil War was fought only for black people to get guns.”

Lemon accused Ramaswamy of making “reductive” talking points. Ramaswamy then told Lemon that his comments on his NRA speech were “reductive and actually insulting.”

That was when Lemon bit at his producers, angrily telling them, “Hang on, please. I cannot keep a thought if you guys are talking in my ear.”

Lemon finally couldn’t take it anymore and concluded, “The fact that I find insulting is that you are sitting here telling an African American about the rights and what you find insulting about the way I live, the skin I live in every day. And I know the freedoms that black people don’t have in this country, and that black people do have.”

Ramaswamy reiterated that they should be able to talk about the subject without the color of their skin being a talking point, “I think we should be able to express our views regardless of the color of our skin. We should have this debate without me regarding you as a black man.”

“I think it’s insulting that you’re sitting here — whatever ethnicity you are — ‘splaining to me about what it’s like to be black in America. I’m sorry,” Lemon viciously answered.

“I’m an Indian American, and I’m proud of it,” Ramaswamy informed him.

Lemon’s meltdown and Ramaswamy’s repeated efforts to inject some sanity into the segment prompted heated reactions on Twitter:

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