BITTER TASTE

Don Lemon Says of CNN Sacking: ‘We Have to Stand Up for What Is Right’

The 57-year-old says he doesn’t believe in “platforming bigots and liars.”

Don Lemon has come out swinging against his old bosses at CNN in his first sit-down interview since being fired from the network in April. The 57-year-old was ousted after rowing with his co-hosts and attacking Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley as being past her prime, as well as a particularly contentious interview with GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy. In an interview with ABC24 Memphis, Lemon said he had simply been standing up against since-deposed CNN CEO, Chris Licht, who was trying to make CNN less “woke” to broaden its appeal to viewers. “In order to fulfill the promise of the Constitution, we have to stand up for what is right,” Lemon said. Asked about his interview with Ramaswamy, when he got into a row about skin color, he said: “I don’t believe in platforming liars and bigots and, you know, insurrectionists and election deniers and put them on the same footing as people who are telling the truth for what’s right, people who are abiding by the Constitution. I think that would be dereliction of journalistic duties to do those sort of things.”