Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has erupted in anger at suggestions that Democratic political rhetoric should be held equally responsible for the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, saying the comparison “drives me f–king crazy” and denouncing it as a “false equivalent.”
Speaking on The Don Lemon Show on Monday, Lemon addressed the growing debate among politicians and journalists about whether left-wing rhetoric had contributed to the atmosphere that led Cole Thomas Allen, 31, to open fire at the Washington Hilton on Saturday in what prosecutors are treating as an attempt to assassinate the president and other senior White House officials.
“Words have consequences. Rhetoric really matters and I believe that genuinely across the board, and that’s not a one-sided principle, it applies to everyone,” Lemon said. “But I cannot say with a straight face — and nobody can say that with a straight face — that Democrats saying Trump is terrible for this country is the same thing as Donald Trump standing in front of a crowd on January 6 and telling them to march to the Capitol and fight like hell.”
“I am so sick of false equivalents. It drives me f–king crazy! Because that is bulls–t!” he exclaimed, visibly jumping up in his seat.
Lemon appeared to combine two separate statements from Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech — something that has itself become legally significant. Trump is currently suing the BBC for $10 billion, accusing the broadcaster of defamation for editing those two statements together in a 2024 documentary, according to The New York Post.
Allen appeared in court on Monday where he faces life imprisonment on three counts, including attempting to assassinate the president. In a chilling manifesto first reported by The Post, Allen described himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and stated he intended to kill Trump administration officials “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” He wrote that he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” apparently referring to the president. The manifesto also referenced hot-button political issues including the Trump administration’s strikes on Venezuelan drug boats and the detention of illegal migrants.
Lemon acknowledged that some of Allen’s stated grievances were “real grievances that millions of people share,” but was clear about where responsibility lay. “The specific language in that letter, the words he used — that language comes from a specific ecosystem, and that ecosystem was not built by Democrats,” he said.
He was equally direct in condemning the attack itself. “What Cole Allen did was wrong. You do not pick up weapons and walk toward a room full of people. I don’t care how angry you are,” Lemon said. He also addressed speculation about his own feelings toward Trump: “I don’t want Donald Trump dead, okay? Not because I have any warmth towards him — I really don’t. I think he’s a repulsive human being.” He argued that killing Trump would only make him a martyr, and that he would rather see the president “beaten by the voters.”
Allen exchanged gunfire with Secret Service agents during the incident, injuring one officer who was hospitalised briefly before being discharged. Trump confirmed the officer had been “saved by the fact” he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023 after 17 years with the network.
