CNN host Don Lemon has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, resulting in his backing out of moderating a New York City event about race and real estate in honor of Black History Month because he’s politically radioactive.

Lemon stirred up a hornet’s nest when he called Republican 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley “past her prime.” The misogynist comment was decried on both sides of the political aisle and now, TMZ is reporting that Lemon backed out of the gig after making the comment.

The leftist talking head told the media outlet he was worried about his current news coverage overshadowing the event. Evidently, the coordinator for the event, Douglas Elliman, agreed he should step back and bow out. He’s reportedly been replaced by real estate broker John Gomes, who works for Elliman and the event will go on as planned.

Haley, who has benefited from Lemon’s misstep, quipped on “Sunday Morning Futures,” “The Liberals’ heads explode at the thought of me getting into the race. What I said was, ‘if you think I’m past my prime, hold my beer.’ We started selling koozies on NikkiHaley.com, and I think we turn lemons into lemonade, and I’ll keep doing this.”

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Lemon has since apologized for the slur against Haley. But he’s still in hot water on “CNN This Morning” for other instances where he can’t seem to get along with his co-hosts.

Don Lemon isn’t CNN’s only problem either. Ratings are still scraping bottom and CEO Chris Licht is doing everything he can to stop the free-fall.

CNN is on track to finish out February with its smallest monthly audience among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54 since June 2014, according to Fox News. The network’s ratings have gone from really bad to abysmal.

“Anderson Cooper 360,” “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and Wolf Blitzer’s “Situation Room” are seeing their smallest audiences since that same month among the critical demo, while “Inside Politics” is on a trajectory for its least-viewed month among the category since August 2005.

Don Lemon’s new stomping grounds, “CNN This Morning,” is set to finish out the month with its smallest monthly audience yet. That’s among both total viewers and the demo since it launched last year.

Don Lemon's show draws CNN's lowest ratings in a decade. Time to fire the clown pic.twitter.com/Cr0CRzS8qF

— Eddie (@ICU1010) February 17, 2023

Fox News reports, “‘CNN This Morning’ is averaging a dismal 361,000 total viewers through the first 24 days of the month, down 16% from the 430,000 that CNN’s previous morning show ‘New Day’ managed in February of last year before it was canceled because of poor viewership. When it comes to the audience coveted by advertisers, ‘CNN This Morning’ is managing only 73,000 viewers to lose 13% of the ‘New Day’ audience.”

Even worse, if that’s possible, “The Situation Room” and “The Lead with Jake Tapper” are both reportedly shedding 40% of their demo audiences from Feb. 2022.

Not even Anderson Cooper is immune to the viewership bloodbath. He’s on pace to average only 137,000 demo viewers. His show is expected to lose at least 38% of the demo audience it drew in the same month last year.

Simply put, no one is watching CNN.

By contrast, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” is seeing 465,000 demo viewers during the same time slot.

Since Chris Cuomo was given the boot in 2021, CNN has desperately attempted to fill the 9 pm slot and has failed spectacularly at it.

Fox News noted, “A series of specials, fill-in anchors, a Tapper-hosted run-up to midterms, and various town halls have occupied the space, with none resonating with Americans enough to earn a permanent place in the primetime lineup.”

Jake Tapper hosted a CNN town hall in East Palestine on the train derailment last week and it was one of the least-viewed programs for the network in recent memory.

(Video Credit: CNN)

Tapper was embarrassingly outdrawn by Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules,” ESPN’s 2 am ET edition of “SportsCenter,” reruns of “Golden Girls,” and “Beavis and Butthead.”

Don Lemon insulting women across the nation certainly didn’t help CNN’s ratings but then, the whole network seems to be on deathwatch. All the re-education camps in the world won’t help that.

"Don Lemon's re-education camp is a farce. It's a lie and we know it. And for them to continue tolerating it makes them part of the problem."@MegynKelly on CNN refusing to fire Don Lemon. pic.twitter.com/MMxPtk1g5j

— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) February 21, 2023

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