‘Turncoat mofo’: CNN’s Don Lemon slammed after agreeing with Bill O’Reilly

August 29, 2017

http://twitter.com/#!/HowardKurtz/status/361485363337895936

CNN’s Don Lemon not only agreed with some comments made by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, but Lemon went on to say that O’Reilly didn’t go far enough:

http://twitter.com/#!/forewit/status/361511884098244608

Partial transcript via Real Clear Politics (video also at the link):

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O’REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: The reason there is so much violence and chaos in the black precincts is the disintegration of the African- American family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He’s got a point. In fact, he’s got more than a point. Bill?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O’REILLY: Raised without much structure, young black men often reject education and gravitate towards the street culture, drugs, hustling, gangs. Nobody forces them to do that, again, it is a personal decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He is right about that, too. But in my estimation, he doesn’t go far enough. Because black people, if you really want to fix the problem, here’s just five things that you should think about doing. Here’s number five, and if this doesn’t apply to you, if you’re not doing this, then it doesn’t apply to you, I’m not talking to you.

Many tweeters, in spite of Lemon’s qualifier, thought he was talking to them

http://twitter.com/#!/wwalwyn/status/361633134091051009
http://twitter.com/#!/GoBrown75/status/361641300895858688

Among the biggest critics of Lemon’s comments was MSNBC’s Goldie Taylor:

http://twitter.com/#!/goldietaylor/status/361262653995352065

There are those who still believe that one of the great things about America is that everyone has access to their own “rope ladder” should they know where to look for it and choose to use it. How disappointing it must be for some to discover that, according to Taylor, their only way “out” depends on a CNN host not taking away the magic rungs.

Lemon took to Twitter to explain:

http://twitter.com/#!/DonLemonCNN/status/361568584729772034
http://twitter.com/#!/DonLemonCNN/status/361571209235795968