Don Lemon’s fiery on-air exchange with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy left CNN executives “exasperated” leading to his sack by the cable news network on Monday, April 24, a new report claims.
Last week Wednesday, Lemon got into a heated argument with Ramaswamy on the set of “CNN This Morning” and the televised clash reportedly played a role in his firing, the New York Times reported.
See the video of the fiery exchange between presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Don Lemon that reportedly led to his sack by CNN
In the footage of the interview, it appears producers were attempting to advise Lemon through the heated debate as Lemon was visibly irritated during the conversation with Ramaswamy on the Civil Rights movement, black Americans and the Second Amendment
“Please, I cannot keep a thought if you guys are talking in my ear,” he said at one point during the segment, referring to producers who were advising him on his earpiece while he was having the interview.
Lemon, who is black, had said it was “insulting” that the Republican presidential candidate was “sitting here, whatever ethnicity you are, explaining to me what it’s like to be black in America.”
The televised clash was the latest story about Lemon to make waves following a series of recent headlines about his allegedly troubling behavior.
One of his most notable errors was his comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being “past her prime” at age 51. He added that “a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s” in a statement that was called out as sexist by people on all sides.
He also argued with his female co-hosts and reportedly belittled anchor Kaitlan Collins after being forced to share the spotlight with her.
In December last year, Lemon is said to have “screamed” at his co-anchor, Kaitlan Collins, after an on-air segment, sources told The Post at the time.
When the cameras stopped rolling after the Dec. 8 show, he allegedly approached Collins and unleashed on her in front of staffers for supposedly “interrupting” him on air.
“Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio,” one source said.
In the aftermath, a source said: “At this point, Kaitlan wants to be on set with Don as little as possible … It’s messy.”
Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, April 25 that he thought it was clear their on-air confrontation “played a role” in CNN’s decision to drop Lemon.
“I think that any network that wants to foster open debate should embrace that principle by not restricting what someone can say or saying what someone can say is restricted based on their skin color,” Ramaswamy told the outlet. “And I think they made the right decision here.”
