Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who received a $24.5 million settlement after his controversial departure from the network in 2023, ignited fresh controversy with an expletive-laden attack on supporters of President-elect Donald Trump during a recent episode of his YouTube show. The outburst has drawn widespread criticism and reignited debates about political discourse in the media.
The outburst came amid an escalating debate over H-1B visas that has divided Trump’s base. Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, recently appointed co-chairs of the new Department of Government Efficiency, publicly support the visa program for skilled workers. Their stance drew sharp criticism from former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, who stated, “Let me just restate something, as a fact. The H1B visa program is a total and complete scam from its top to the bottom.”
“You’ve been co-opted because you’re in a (expletive) cult, and you don’t even realize it because you have stupid MAGA brain and you don’t get it,” Lemon said in the video, directing his comments at Trump supporters. “How stupid and dumb are you?” He continued his rant, stating, “You’re so (expletive) stupid, and you deserve it. You (expletive) deserve it because you’re so dumb. Yes, I am gloating over your stupidity.”
When faced with backlash, Lemon stood by his comments, telling critics “too (expletive) bad” and clarifying that he was specifically referring to “MAGA-brained people” who make excuses for Trump’s behavior. He accused Trump supporters of having a “higher expectation” of him than their “cult leader” Trump.
The incident follows Lemon’s tumultuous exit from CNN, where he worked for 17 years before being terminated in April 2023. His firing came after several controversies, including comments suggesting Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past her prime at age 51. Reports also emerged of alleged misogynistic behavior toward female colleagues, including accusations of sending threatening texts and making demeaning comments. The network initially moved him from his prime-time slot to co-host “CNN This Morning,” which struggled with poor ratings.
During his CNN tenure, Lemon frequently clashed with Trump and his supporters, comparing them to Ku Klux Klan members and defending Antifa. His confrontational style and openly left-wing positions often drew criticism from conservative viewers and media outlets.
Most recently, Lemon criticized Time magazine’s selection of Trump as the 2024 Person of the Year. “They could have done it to someone who stood for democracy,” he said, questioning how the magazine could choose someone he claimed “inspired an insurrection” and “tried to overturn a free and fair election.” Time’s editor-in-chief defended the decision, stating it was an acknowledgment of Trump’s influence rather than an endorsement.
Trump, meanwhile, has sided with Musk and Ramaswamy on the H-1B visa issue, announcing his support for the program and appointing Sriram Krishnan, a prominent advocate for increased immigration, as his senior adviser on artificial intelligence. This appointment triggered an anti-Indian backlash on social media, particularly given Krishnan’s past advocacy for broadly increasing green cards and immigration.
Fox News personalities compared Lemon’s recent comments to Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” remark, arguing that such rhetoric would only drive more people to support Trump. They suggested that Lemon’s gleeful and profane celebration of the MAGA “civil war” over immigration policy reflected poorly on mainstream media’s treatment of conservative voters.
