We've often lambasted Don Lemon for wild and often partisan overstatement. So let's give the CNN host credit when he deserves it. On Tuesday's CNN This Morning, Lemon raised the Nashville mass shooter at a Christian school was a "member of the LGBTQ community." He asked CNN national security analyst (and former Obama DHS assistant secretary) Juliette Kayyem:
"Juliette, let's um, talk about the thing that everyone is talking about. Everyone is thinking, but they don't want to talk about. And that is the identity of the shooter, okay? And it's a member of the LGBTQ community. I think this is important to bring up."
He added that "the police are identifying the shooter as a trans woman, would actually be a trans man, so there's sort of a misidentification there, but this is all new. I'm just wondering, the identity of being a transgender person, and also being identified as a woman. Does this pose any sort of difference or difficulty for the police because it's not typically a woman, regardless of how they're identifying. So there are a couple of things here that are different and that we are going to have to talk about and delve into."
Kayyem agreed it's a time for sensitivity, and it's very different for the mass shooter to be female. But she came back to guns, arguing "we don't own guns in this country, guns own us" and saying "pronouns do not kill children, right? People with guns kill children." Translation: more gun control!
Lemon surprisingly responded: "You're right: it shouldn't matter as to the pronouns. But it is something different, and people are discussing it, and I think we should discuss it. Also, be sensitive about it, but it is an important part of the conversation."
So, kudos to Lemon. Maybe his "past her prime" suspension by CNN honcho Chris Licht actually did some good!
Note: Kayyem said that the shooter "identified as a woman." Actually, the shooter was a biological female who was apparently transitioning to male, and using he/him pronouns.
Meanwhile, over on MSNBC, Morning Joe gave short shrift to the shooter's identity, with only one passing reference to it in the opening segment.
On CNN This Morning, Don Lemon making a point out of raising the fact that the Nashville school shooter was trans and "a member of the LGBTQ community" was sponsored in part by Subway, Mercedes Benz, and Tempur-Pedic.
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
3/28/23
6:14 am EDTDON LEMON: Julia, let's um, talk about the thing that everyone is talking about. Everyone is thinking, but they don't want to talk about. And that is the identity of the shooter, okay? And it's a member of the LGBTQ community. I think this is important to bring up.
And you as a parent can talk about these issues. So, the police are identifying the shooter as a trans woman, would actually be a trans man, so there's sort of a misidentification there, but this is all new.
I'm just wondering, the identity of being a transgender person, and also being identified as a woman. Does this pose any sort of difference or difficulty for the police because it's not typically a woman, regardless of how they're identifying. So there are a couple of things here that are different and that we are going to have to talk about and delve into.
. . .
JULIETTE KAYYEM: And this is a unique case, and we have to be sensitive about it to the extent that Audrey Hale identified as a woman. We do not see mass shooters who are female, especially in particular school shooting murderers. Those, that is, that is actually, I think, the first time that I can remember.
. . .
I sort of think now, like we don't own guns in this country, guns own us at this stage, and this is where we have to now focus on an important part of an agenda, which includes mental health, protecting our kids, fortifying schools, but also the connectivity, which is a certain kind of gun --
You know, look, pronouns, pronouns do not kill children, right? People with guns, kill children, and it's going to be a distraction in our coverage and keep us from what we now know, which is, each of these cases has a similarity more than any difference.
LEMON: Yeah, and police are identifying the shooter as a trans person. Just so you know, right? Just so you know.
And you're right. It shouldn't matter the pronoun, but it is something that is different and people are discussing and I think we should discuss it. Also be sensitive about it. But it is important part of the of the conversation.
