Former CNN host Don Lemon isn’t feeling Time Magazine selecting President-elect Donald Trump as “Person of the Year,” The Hill reports.
The host of “The Don Lemon Show” feels Trump shouldn’t have been given the recognition for the second time — the first being in 2016 — and asked the publication, “What are you doing?” “If they wanted to make someone person of the year, I don’t know, they could have done it to anyone. They could’ve done it to someone who actually stood for democracy, who stands for democracy in the country,” he said.
“Now you think about what encompasses person of the year; just because you are elected President of the United States does not mean you should be a person of the year. What, Time Magazine, what are you doing?”
The magazine dropped on Dec. 12 after Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City. According to Fox News, the publication wrote that Trump completely restructured the “course of politics.” “Since he began running for President in 2015, perhaps no single individual has played a larger role in changing the course of politics and history than Trump,” the publication wrote.
“Trump is once again at the center of the world, and in as strong a position as he has ever been.”
However, after months of criminal investigations, including attempts to overturn the 2020 election and badgering Vice President Kamala Harris, a Time finalist, Lemon ripped into the publication over its decision. “You have someone who inspired an insurrection. You have someone who — without a doubt, the evidence is there — tried to overturn a free and fair election. You have someone who had multiple criminal counts and was found guilty on multiple criminal counts. And you name them Person of the Year,” he said.
“Is this a joke? Did we get
something wrong? Did someone scam us? Are we sure about this, producers? There is a convicted felon on the cover of Time Magazine as the Person of the Year. Maybe we’re being scammed. Did someone put out a fake tweet or something about this? I don’t know.”The profile even touched on the 2020 election results, highlighting how Trump’s “first term ended in disgrace, with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results culminating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol,” but labeled his political path to the presidency as “unparalleled in American history.”
Other controversial Time finalists include 2021 Person of the Year billionaire Elon Musk, podcaster Joe Rogan, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump and Lemon have been long-time critics of each other. In 2023, the indicted businessman cheered CNN’s decision to fire Lemon, but that didn’t stop the media personality from rebuking Trump’s rhetoric during the 2024 election cycle.
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