A former CNN producer is speaking out this week to demand that the network “step in” to stop host Don Lemon from continuing to use “dangerous” rhetoric. This came after Lemon claimed on Tuesday night that Americans were at imminent risk of death during a rant demanding more gun control.
Lemon’s ‘Dangerous’ Rhetoric
“Every single one of us is just playing the odds at this point. The odds that in a country of 325 million souls that we won’t be the ones who get hit by the next bullets that start flying. We won’t be the one that gets that phone call about someone you love who did. That phone call that changes your life,” Lemon said, according to Fox News.
“But with every deadly shooting in this country, the odds get worse and worse,” he added. “Are you really willing to keep playing those odds? Haven’t we learned after this year of pandemic, a year of loss of life, isolation, mass death of nearly 550,000 Americans that life is just that precious? If not now, when? When will we ever learn? I don’t want to have to say those words again.”
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Former CNN Producer Sounds Off
Former CNN digital producer Steve Krakauer was disturbed when he saw this, and he took to Twitter to write, “Someone at CNN needs to step in. This hyperbole isn’t just offensive, it’s actually dangerous.”
Someone at CNN needs to step in. This hyperbole isn’t just offensive, it’s actually dangerous. https://t.co/iABa9jkjs7
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) March 24, 2021
Curtis Houck Speaks Out
This came after NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck blasted Lemon in a series of tweets.
“I know I say it all the time, but I’ll say it again — with people like Don Lemon in such a prominent position, if you’re on the right, CNN truly hates you. They hate what you think, how you vote, and how you live your lives,” Houck wrote.
He wrote this alongside images of chyrons that said, “Too many on the right don’t have the courage to stand up for our lives, but they’ll take away for vote,” “As pandemic restrictions are being lifted, the mass shootings are starting again and America is mourning again” and “Why are we willing to tolerate an obscene loss of life?”
“But Don Lemon is totally a journalist, you guys,” Houck sarcastically added alongside an image of a CNN chyron that declared, “The 2nd Amendment doesn’t require us to submit to a lifetime of mass carnage.”
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As someone who's struggled with depression and suicide, it's offensive for Don to so callously say in this chyron that "every single one of us is just playing the odds at this point."
Before a break, Don brings up the National Suicide Prevention Line….absolutely insulting. pic.twitter.com/9djuxnIXRE
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 24, 2021
Here's more. Absolute insane chyrons.
I know I say it all the time, but I'll say it again — with people like Don Lemon in such a prominent position, if you're on the right, CNN truly hates you. They hate what you think, how you vote, and how you live your lives. pic.twitter.com/VFpuUvFpvy
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 24, 2021
But Don Lemon is totally a journalist, you guys. pic.twitter.com/axJ1h5bQvF
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 24, 2021
This chyron on the right is supremely stupid. I mean, you can do this with anything that's tragic — car accidents, divorce, domestic violence incidents, suicides. It's all a logical fallacy. pic.twitter.com/d5BDqiCYs7
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 24, 2021
Houck Reveals What Was ‘Absolutely Insulting’ That Lemon Did
Houck also said that it was “absolutely insulting” for Lemon to call on viewers who might be dealing with mental health issues to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
“As someone who’s struggled with depression and suicide, it’s offensive for Don to so callously say in this chyron that ‘every single one of us is just playing the odds at this point,’” Houck wrote. “Before a break, Don brings up the National Suicide Prevention Line….absolutely insulting.”
This piece was written by James Samson on March 24, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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