When Don Lemon Loses It Over Trump's Coronavirus Speech, John Kasich Has To Set Him Straight
When even John Kasich is defending President Donald Trump, it’s clear Don Lemon has lost it.
During a CNN interview after Trump’s address to the nation about the coronavirus Wednesday night, the former Ohio governor infuriated Lemon by pronouncing Trump’s speech “fine” – and saying it was exactly what Trump needed to do at this point in the crisis.
And that, of course, is exactly what Lemon and his anti-Trump network did not want to hear. Sounding like a petulant teenager more than a highly paid television anchor, Lemon let his feelings show.
Watch @DonLemon have a meltdown over John Kasich not bashing President Trump’s Oval Office Address pic.twitter.com/AHrO465eP4
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 12, 2020
“We need straight, accurate information from this president and this administration. And we’re not getting it,” Lemon whined irrationally. “And I don’t understand why you are tiptoeing around it! He came out. Gave an address. That happens very rarely. And he doesn’t get it right?”
What apparently set Lemon off was a clarification Trump published shortly after his speech to make it clear that while he appeared to have announced that a ban on travel from Europe to the United States would cover both humans and trade goods, it would actually only apply to passenger traffic.
“The restriction stops people not goods,” Trump wrote.
Hoping to get the payroll tax cut approved by both Republicans and Democrats, and please remember, very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2020
To Lemon, an anti-Trump zealot bent on using his national platform as a megaphone to attack the president, that was apparently unforgivable.
But to Kasich, a veteran of politics who spent 18 years in Congress before serving two terms as governor of Ohio and mounting an unsuccessful run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, that kind of clarification was routine.
https://youtu.be/oz5pIgGxIh4
“It isn’t unusual for somebody in a speech to clarify something, OK?” he told Lemon. “But I don’t think the tone he showed tonight takes away from some clarification. I think he set a serious tone. That’s what I wanted out of him for a long time, and I think we got it.” (Check out the complete video at the Washington Examiner.)
On social media, Lemon had his defenders, of course. No liberal would miss a chance to bash Trump, and the coronavirus outbreak is the weapon of the day.
But many, many commenters agreed with Kasich’s point — and Lemon didn’t come out well at all.
Does anyone actually take @DonLemon seriously?
He completely lost his mind because John Kasich thought President Trump’s Oval Office Address was good.pic.twitter.com/wS6I2NYVRP
— ALX ?? (@alx) March 12, 2020
and they wonder why no one watches them
— Marie Marshall(will not respond to DMs) (@emariemarshall) March 12, 2020
I’m confused…Since Don Lemon is the interviewer shouldn’t he be letting Kasich talk? At least a little?
— Elk (@elk_ekeren) March 12, 2020
That last question — “Since Don Lemon is the interviewer shouldn’t he be letting Kasich talk?” — gets to the heart of the matter.
For Lemon and his fellow hyper partisans in the mainstream media, the coronavirus outbreak isn’t just a news story worthy of coverage, it’s yet another cudgel to be used to beat the president.
When Kasich refused to go along, Lemon simply lost it.
It’s important to remember that Kasich has been one of Trump’s most consistent critics since the nomination fight in 2016 and even called for his impeachment last fall.
The fact that a veteran congressman and former governor was actually praising the president should be a sign that even some of Trump’s political foes are acknowledging his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
For Trump’s enemies in the media — and Lemon is only one of the most obvious — that’s simply inconceivable.
That’s why trusting so much of the mainstream media is inconceivable — to a sane American, anyway.
CORRECTION, March 15, 2020: The headline on this commentary originally misspelled the last name of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. We apologize to Mr. Kasich and our readers for the error.
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