CNN anchor Don Lemon and a former Trump official sparred on Monday’s “CNN This Morning” over former President Donald Trump’s meeting with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Kanye “Ye” West.
Len Khodorkovsky, the Trump-era former deputy assistant Secretary of State, expressed disapproval for Trump’s meeting with Ye and Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago, but called out Democratic and liberal leaders who have made anti-semitic remarks. Lemon immediately pushed back, arguing they did not serve as President of the United States.
“Sir, they’re not the president of the United States,” Lemon said. “He’s a former president of the United States and this is not ‘what-about-ism,’ he met with an anti-semite. So, can we stick to the former president and not do ‘what-about-ism?’ We can talk about those other people when they are issues. But they aren’t issues right now.”
He asked the Trump official if Trump should be condemned for inviting the two figures at a time where he is being investigated for storing classified documents in his private home.
“I’m trying to give you an answer—” Khodorkovsky said.
“It’s a yes or no,” Lemon interjected.
“I didn’t realize I was on the witness stand, here, Don,” he continued. “I’m trying to have a substantive conversation about a real issue like anti-semitism, and you’re trying to make it all about Trump. It’s not about Trump.”
“It is about Trump, sir, we’re talking about the former president meeting with an anti-semite, how is this not about Trump?” the anchor continued.
Khodorkovsky said the issue of anti-semitism needs to be confronted, rather than making the discussion about Trump. He argued that CNN and other media outlets need to publicly condemn anti-semitism when it comes from Democrats in Congress.
“When the issue is someone in the halls of Congress or in the government who is trafficking anti-semitism, CNN will call it out,” Lemon said. “This is about Donald Trump meeting with a known anti-semite and someone who traffics in anti-semitism. This is not about any other people who may have trafficked in anti-semitism. When they do it, we’ll discuss it and we’ll have you have on to discuss that part of it.” (RELATED: WSJ Goes After Trump Over White Nationalist’s Appearance At Mar-A-Lago)
Khodorkovsky accused Lemon of being “fixated on Trump” for refusing to discuss other instances of anti-semitism from members of Congress. Lemon said he should give a direct answer on condemning the meeting with Fuentes, and that he should be more offended by Trump meeting with Fuentes than him discussing the matter.
“Oh, I see, Don. So if there’s an answer that you want from me, why don’t you tell me what that answer would be,” he said. He then told Lemon it is “insulting” to tell a him, a Jew, on what anti-semitism looks like.
“It is insulting for you to think that I don’t understand bigotry and racism,” Lemon continued. “Because I understand it and if someone is a bigot or a racist and you ask me about them, I will always say that it is wrong to traffic and meet with bigots and racists, regardless of what you might think about me and talking about a Jewish person.”
The former president reportedly “knew nothing about” Fuentes prior to the dinner. He is a reported Holocaust denier and is deemed a white supremacist by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Former President Barack Obama repeatedly met with Louis Farrakhan, the leader of black nationalist group Nation of Islam, in the early 2000’s. In 1998, Farrakhan blamed Jews for starting the Holocaust by being “bad at politics” and has called Jews the “Synagogue of Satan.” Obama met with him at a Congressional Black Caucus while he served as senator in 2005, and again in 2007 just before announcing his candidacy for the presidency.
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has repeatedly been accused of anti-semitism after siding with Islamic terrorist organization Hamas after the Palestinian terror organization launched nearly 600 rockets into Israel and fundraised a notable anti-Palestinian group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).