CNN anchor Don Lemon declared President Trump “unworthy of his office” late Friday in light of the latter questioning former President Abraham Lincoln’s legacy during a recent Fox News interview.
Mr. Lemon tore into Mr. Trump during his evening “CNN Tonight” program over remarks that Mr. Trump made about the 16th president in an interview aired by Fox News earlier Friday.
“I think I’ve done more for the black community than any other president, and let’s take a pass on Abraham Lincoln because he did good, although it’s always questionable, you know, in other words, the end result,” Mr. Trump told Fox News host Harris Faulkner during the interview.
Mr. Lemon, who is frequently critical of Mr. Trump, slammed the president’s response while recapping the Fox News interview on CNN several hours later.
“Questionable? Abraham Lincoln’s legacy is questionable? That’s pathetic, really pathetic and unworthy of his office. I don’t know whether this president is actually questioning the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, or whether he just can’t admit that anybody, even Lincoln, was a better president,” Mr. Lemon said.
It was not clear what Mr. Trump meant about his late predecessor Lincoln, whose most notable achievement as president was undoubtedly the abolishment of slavery in 1865.
Mr. Lemon noted it comes on the heels of the president having previously made several racially charged remarks.
“This is a man who danced around the question of whether he disavows David Duke. David Duke is the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan. He called African nations sending immigrants to this country, quote, ’s—-hole countries’,” Mr. Lemon listed as two examples of Mr. Trump “stoking racial division for years.”
“America is crying out for justice tonight. Did you hear it? Because this president refuses to hear it. In the face of all that the president says he thinks that he is the one to unite us. But do his actions speak louder than his words?” Mr. Lemon asked.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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