CNN's Don Lemon insisted on Tuesday's OutFront that he is neither "a big supporter of Obama" nor an "ultra leftist" as guest Larry Klayman claimed. "Nothing you have said has been correct about me," Lemon retorted.
"The only person who decides my political leanings, whether I'm left or right, are me. The only people who know that for sure, the person who knows that for sure, is me," Lemon defended his integrity. However, Lemon has repeatedly bludgeoned conservatives and championed liberalism as a CNN anchor. Below are some of his worst moments:
"That's not my slogan, to be 'fair and balanced.' My thing is about accuracy and the truth. Just because someone has another point of view or opinion, I don't believe in false fairness. I just believe in the truth."
— Lemon in a January 25, 2013 interview with the Dallas Voice.
Comparing Mitt Romney to Segregationist George Wallace
Lemon: "The subject tonight: words that come back to haunt you."
1963 clip of George Wallace: "And I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever."
Lemon: "Honestly, can you imagine having uttered those words in front of television cameras or being one of those people in the crowd cheering on Alabama's governor George Wallace? That wasn't so long ago. It was the 1960s. Now think about how far we have come, and think about what this might sound like a few decades from now."
Clip of Mitt Romney: "Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman."
— CNN Newsroom, May 13, 2012.
Emotional Anti-Gun Rant: Take Guns 'Off the Streets'
"Mental health is a secondary issue. We need to get guns and bullets and automatic weapons off the streets. They should only be available to police officers and to hunt al Qaeda and the Taliban and not hunt elementary school children."
— Lemon on CNN Newsroom, December 17, 2012.
Defending the Obama Administration's Benghazi Lies
"It's obvious that someone mishandled something. It's obvious, but it is looking pretty partisan when you look at all of the talking points that are being used. And let me ask this question, because the accusation is that the Obama administration in some way tried to change the talking points or water them down. And my question is, and I'm being honest about this, what administration, Ana, doesn't try to control the message, no matter what it is?"
— Lemon to GOP strategist Ana Navarro on CNN Newsroom, May 12, 2013.
Shutdown Slander: GOP Is 'Drinking the Haterade' and 'Holding the American People Hostage'
"Some lawmakers are a throwing temper tantrum, Tom, and yet again holding the American people hostage instead of telling them the truth....The American people are in peril. Livelihoods are in peril because some Republicans — not all, but some — have lied themselves into a corner and threatened to shut down the government unless ObamaCare is no longer funded. Talk about selfish. Talk about taking your marbles and going home."
— Lemon during an appearance on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, September 24, 2013.
"So I say, as the party dominated by aging white Americans and some very vocal bigots, the Republican party no longer represents the changing demographics in this country....Republicans, here's the bottom line from those of us who are not watching from the forest. You are blinded by the Obama hate trees, fighting amongst yourselves, in a death spiral. Google the term target fixation immediately. Get on the same message. And stop drinking the haterade."
–- Lemon on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, October 15, 2013.
Conservatives Much More Prone to 'Violence' and 'Name-Calling' Than Liberals
"We're talking about violence and the name-calling and that sort of thing....We have seen it on the Republican and the conservative side much, much more than on the Democratic side. The name-calling in groups, with signs, calling people, you know, epithets, comparing them to Hitler. We've seen it much more from the conservatives, from the Tea Party movement. And listen, I believe in free speech and the right to protest and the right to express yourself. But let's be honest here, it's coming mostly, mainly from one side."
- CNN's Don Lemon filling in as anchor of Rick's List, April 9, 2010.
Obama Caves on the Debt Ceiling; Should He Run as a Conservative?
"Your colleague in New York, Gary Ackerman, said the Republicans invited the President, quote, 'to negotiate at a strip poker table, and he showed up half naked.' And then liberal columnist Paul Krugman calls the deal an 'abject surrender.' Would the President be better off running as a conservative in 2012?"
— Lemon to Democratic Representative Raul Grijalva, CNN's In the Arena, August 1, 2011.
Channeling Liberal Comedian Bill Maher; Is GOP Opposition to Obama 'Racial'?
"To heckle a President, to shout in the middle of a speech - would he have done that if it was a white President? I don't think so. I think this is a southern guy who thinks, 'I can do whatever I want when it's a black guy speaking.'...Also, the folks who did not want the President of the United States to speak to their children....I remember hearing parents talk when I was a kid, you know, they didn't want black people just talking to their kids. That's what this reminded me of."
- HBO's Bill Maher on Real Time, September 11.
"A Member of Congress calling the President a liar, town hallers yelling at lawmakers, carrying guns to rallies, refusing to let kids hear the Commander-in-Chief. And on and on and on. What's behind it? Is it racial? Yeah, I said it. And we're going to talk about it....I was watching Real Talk, Real Time with Bill Maher and I was, like, 'Finally, someone's talking about this. Finally, someone is talking about this.'"
- CNN anchor Don Lemon during the 7pm ET hour of Newsroom, September 12, 2009.
'Tone Deaf' GOP Would Be 'Doubling Down' With a Post-Election Shift to the Right
Anchor Soledad O’Brien: "There are some people who are doing soul-searching, but there are others whose response was 'We should be more conservative. We should be more about the Tea Party.'..."
Lemon: "Yeah, doubling down on it. I'm doing a piece this weekend on my show, is it time for an intervention for the Republican Party?...I think unless the GOP becomes the GNP, which is the Grand New Party, they're on the verge of extinction because they're tone deaf."
— CNN's Starting Point, November 9, 2012.
