Don Lemon Lives Rent Free in Donald Trump’s Head
6/15/202654 min
Don Lemon was one of the first journalists that “pissed Trump off,” Nicolle charges out of the gate. A year and a half into the president’s second term, the independent journalist and former CNN anchor is upfront about President Trump’s waning energy, noting that his “battery is fading” and that what happened at MSG during Game Three was a vibe shift: “I think that there'll be a reckoning, and I think that that reckoning started at Madison Square Garden with the boos.” Operating independently as the host of "The Don Lemon Show" since 2023, Don joins Nicolle this week to talk about the freedom he has now to meet people where they are, amplifying voices that often get lost in the national conversation. Don also shares the backstory of his arrest and subsequent federal charges after covering a protest in a Minneapolis church earlier this year. But for Don, the volatile political climate only means that the pendulum will, inevitably, swing back. “Something good is going to happen to America — and, I believe, the world,” he says, “because of all this turmoil that we're in right now.”
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Don Lemon· Guest0:14
You have all of those things happening right now, and so the pendulum swings. And so look at what came out of the civil rights movement.
Nicolle Wallace· Host0:22
Mm.
Don Lemon· Guest0:22
Look at what came out of the women's movement. Look at what came out of the gay movement. Something good is going to happen. I say this every morning, something good is going to happen to me today. I have to believe that.
Nicolle Wallace· Host0:34
Yeah.
Don Lemon· Guest0:34
And something good is going to happen to America, and I believe the world, because of all this turmoil that we're in right now.
Nicolle Wallace· Host0:41
[upbeat music] Hi there, everybody. So what happens when you live rent-free in Donald Trump's head for year after year after year? For the answer to that, look no further than this week's guest on The Best People. For years now, first as an anchor at CNN, and then as an independent journalist, Don Lemon has been absolutely brilliant and unsparing in his coverage of Donald Trump, calling out his endless lies, calling out his racism when he sees it, and pointing out his autocratic impulses for all of us to see. Because of that, Don Lemon has found himself smack dab in the middle of the Trump story. He incurred the wrath of the Trump administration while covering protests in Minneapolis, and the criminal case federal prosecutors have brought against him is nothing short of a canary in the authoritarian