CNN’s embattled morning anchor Don Lemon has “been under attack all weekend” after his comments on 2024 Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley, and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wonders if there’s an ulterior motive at play.
Lemon has been absent from CNN This Morning since he said the 51-year-old Haley is “past her prime” last Thursday, but the network has claimed he had a previously scheduled vacation Friday and was off on Monday due to President’s Day.
During The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio Monday, the Fox & Friends host openly questioned if Lemon is trying to get fired.
“He’s done so many crazy things — early — with his co-hosts you think he wants to get fired,” Kilmeade said. “It’s almost as if he wants off the show. He doesn’t seem upset. Obviously, photographers showing up and he’s hanging out on the beach as if to say ‘I don’t sweat this’. That’s not the concern look you want from someone who wants to keep his job. That’s insane.”
Lemon has apologized both publicly and privately to CNN staffers for his comments last week.
The Daily Beast has reported that Lemon’s future with the network could be viewed as cloudy. Reports last year indicated new CNN CEO Chris Licht was interested in removing “partisan” hosts from CNN, which Lemon could be viewed as.
Licht dismissed Brian Stelter and John Harwood — among others — after he was tasked with retooling the network.
