Don Lemon has hit back against President Donald Trump after he called the journalist and NBA star LeBron James dumb on Twitter last week.
Lemon took to his show CNN Tonight with Don Lemon on Monday to address what he says was a “nasty, hateful swipe” toward him and James.
“LeBron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made LeBron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!,” Trump tweeted on Friday.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1025586524782559232
“Referring to African Americans as dumb is one of the oldest canards of America’s racist past — and present — that black people are of inferior intelligence,” Lemon said on his show.
James spoke to Lemon about his I Promise school, which will educate 240 at-risk youth, which he opened in Akron, Ohio on July 30, when he said that Trump is dividing the country through sports.
“I believe our president is trying to divide us,” James said. “I can’t sit back and not say nothing.” Adding that he would never sit down to speak with Trump, but would do so with former President Barack Obama, who is routinely a target of Trump.
James is not the first prominent Black person that the president has called dumb. Trump’s repeatedly gone after Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) saying that she is “a very low IQ individual,” something that was not lost on the CNN host.
“Let me not mince words here. This president traffics in racism. And is fueled by bullying,” said Lemon.
Lemon wondered if people will stand up for people of color who are “attacked by their fellow citizens who feel emboldened to be publicly racist because the president is.”
“We the decent and truly patriotic people who really love America and believe in its greatness have to because clearly, Donald Trump won’t.”
Check out Don Lemon’s full segment below.
