CNN’s Don Lemon had a big oopsie on Thursday’s This Morning show when he claimed Nikki Haley, who is fifty-one, was not in her prime.
Lemon mansplained to his female cohosts that the internet says women’s prime years are “in their twenties and thirties and maybe forties.” Cockburn could sense Lemon’s discomfort as he doubled down on his strange assertion.
Don Lemon: "Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s…"
Poppy Harlow: "Are you talking about prime for like child bearing?"
"Don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying what the facts are! Google it!" pic.twitter.com/n1HmtkWTpl
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2023
By the end of the day, he had apologized on Twitter for his “inartful and irrelevant” comments.
One of Lemon’s co-anchors, Poppy Harlow, made a point of pushing her colleague to explain himself. “What are you talking — wait — prime for what?” She then continued, “Are you talking about prime for like, child bearing?” Lemon, clearly on the defensive, said “Don’t shoot the messenger! I am just saying what the facts are. Google it.” Come on Don, are you seriously playing the “because the internet said so!” card? (For what it’s worth: Google disagrees.)
Cockburn wondered the same thing Harlow was wondering: what kind of a prime is Lemon was referring to? Haley was talking about mental acuity and whether politicians over seventy-five should be tested to ensure fitness for high office. It might come as news to Don, but prime childbearing age has no relevance to being a good politician.
His other co-anchor, Kaitlan Collins, barely spoke during the exchange, and instead watched Lemon dig himself deeper and deeper into trouble. There is no love lost there: presumably Collins was content for Don to bury himself due to his repeated attempts to belittle and reprimand her during their brief tenure cohosting.
Well, Lemon certainly felt the pressure for his mistake. In his apology later that day, he indicates that “colleagues and loved ones” had taken him to task. Cockburn can only imagine what the CNN lounge was like that afternoon!
In any case, the episode probably won’t do anything good for This Morning’s already abysmal ratings. CNN is having a tough time readjusting to the new leadership of Chris Licht, as the network’s new chief attempts to steer it through choppy seas towards “credible airport and gym news source” from its previous position of “Trump-deranged partisan shriek-dungeon.”
Perhaps Lemon’s outbursts are a symptom of growing pains as he struggles to overcome the end of his prime… time show. Cockburn wonders if he thinks he’d be more comfortable on Licht’s trash heap, alongside allies such as Davos “disinformation” expert Brian Stelter and nascent postal worker Chris Cuomo. Maybe joining the legions of recently departed media company employees would do Lemon some good…
