CNN Panel Mocks Trump Supporters

CNN's Don Lemon and two guests on his show are facing backlash after they mocked President Trump's supporters and depicted them as uneducated.

The Washington Examiner reports Lemon was joined by New York Times columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali and GOP strategist Rick Wilson during his show Saturday night to discuss the recent feud between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and NPR. Following an interview last week, Pompeo yelled at NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly and demanded she locate Ukraine, the topic of the initial disagreement, on an unlabeled map.

Wilson pivoted the conversation to attack Trump supporters, claiming they wouldn't be able to identify Ukraine.



The clip went viral on Monday night after former CNN digital producer Steve Krakauer tweeted it, writing, "The arrogance, the dismissiveness, the smug cackling, the accents. If Donald Trump wins re-election this year, I’ll remember this brief CNN segment late one Saturday night in January as the perfect encapsulation for why it happened."

CNN anchor Don Lemon appeared to be on the defensive on Tuesday night.

"This is personally important for me to address this, OK? Ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you- I don't believe in belittling people, belittling anyone for who they are, what they believe, or where they're from," Lemon said towards the top of his show. "During an interview on Saturday night, one of my guests said something that made me laugh. And while in the moment, I found that joke humorous. And I didn't catch everything that was said."

The anti-Trump anchor added, "Just to make it perfectly clear, I was laughing at the joke and not at any group of people."