CNN’s Don Lemon urged White House press secretary Jen Psaki to stop calling on reporters from Fox News on Monday evening.
“Why does Jen Psaki even continue to call on Fox in the briefing room?” asked Lemon, who said Psaki had been “courteous” and “kind” to this point.
“If your network is promoting B.S. and lies about what is actually happening in the country, and helping to inspire and incite an insurrection, why should they even be able to take part in legitimate press briefing and legitimate journalism?” queried Lemon, rephrasing the question.
CNN’s @donlemon: "Why does Jen Psaki continue to call on Fox in the briefing room?”
"Why should they be able to take part in a legitimate press briefing and legitimate journalism?"
"Why did they even allow Fox to pretend in the briefing room they’re a real news organization?" pic.twitter.com/HEf06pesIT
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 14, 2021
For the last several years, Lemon has anchored nighttime news shows on CNN. The network and Lemon have both been criticized for advertising Lemon’s work as journalistic, rather than opinion-driven.
More recently, Lemon has been scrutinized for his relationship with Jussie Smollett, the actor convicted on a number of charges last week for staging a hate crime hoax against himself. During his trial, Smollett testified that Lemon had warned Smollett that Chicago police did not believe Smollett’s story. Lemon never acknowledged having done this, or his friendship with Smollett, while covering the story.
Lemon’s ethical woes are not the only ones to trouble his employer. CNN finally let go of Chris Cuomo — who, in addition to hosting his own show, boasted a podcast with Lemon — after it was revealed that he played a significant part in his brother’s, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s, efforts to hold on to high office after being accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women. The anchor, like his brother, had also been accused of sexual misconduct.
The two hosts’ unsuccessful attempts to leverage their positions to help those close to them are dwarfed in magnitude by the sins of John Griffin, who used to work as a producer on Cuomo’s show. Griffin was arrested by FBI agents after being indicted by a grand jury for sexual misconduct against a number of minors.
“What we have to do is recognize it [Fox News] for what it is,” offered Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media correspondent, during the segment with Lemon.