Former CNN primetime host Don Lemon is a lot of things. Gay, Democratic, controversial, and heavily partisan are four of his most obvious traits, followed closely by bombastic, outrageous, and lowly rated. The last of which, lowly rated, has of course gotten him bounced from his primetime slot at CNN, to part of a morning ensemble show. Naturally Lemon doesn’t view this as any sort of demotion, rather as a promotion. A dubious claim since he is going from the networks prize spot, lowly rated as it is, to a morning show shared with two other people.
For the taping of his last show, Lemon, always one to paint himself in more glowing shades than anyone else, had this to say.
“I was not always perfect, because no one is perfect,”
“There are immense pressures that come with this job and in particular this time slot at, 10:00 o’clock, when people are going to bed. So sometimes all I could do – I am going to be honest with you – was just smile and just get to the commercial break sometimes.”
“Sometimes, it was exhausting. Because some of the things that we discuss here are so personal and so consuming, all-consuming. So, I hope I made you proud. And I thank you for tuning in all these years. And I hope that you are going to join me in the morning,” he said.
“So I will simply say good night, and I will see you soon.
CNN’s @DonLemon on being demoted from primetime to the AM: “I was not demoted” pic.twitter.com/WgatfCzPLT
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 16, 2022
Well, as the ever-sliding ratings reveal, most people won’t be seeing Don Lemon soon. Lemon’s show and popularity have been sliding for years, as more and more viewers tire of the constant race baiting, acrimony, and obvious political bias displayed by Lemon and his cohorts at CNN. As Donald Trump correctly pointed out, CNN is often “fake news”.
Last month he spoke on his show “Don Lemon Tonight” and did his best to portray the move, from having his own show named after him in primetime to being part of an ensemble cast in the mornings, as a “promotion.”
“This is not someone saying you must move to the right, Don Lemon, and give so much of your perspective,” the host said. “That is not real. This is fodder for Twitter. This is an opportunity. This is a promotion. This is an opportunity for me to create something around me and I get to work with two great ladies who you know.”
I certainly wasn’t aware that being moved to a time slot with fewer viewers, where you are no longer the central player was a promotion, but Lemon certainly did his best to save face and not admit the obvious; that he was being put in the little league equivalent of “deep right field” while CNN retooled it’s business model and political focus more towards actual news, rather than the tabloid style it has become.
The fact is, CNN is cleaning house in a desperate attempt to stay relevant, and Lemon was provided an opportunity to save himself by re-branding his on air persona into something more equivalent to a rational American, as opposed to the race baiting leftist lunatic he and so many that have lost their jobs (Brian Stelter) have become. Will he seize the opportunity? My guess is no, but at least Lemon gets a chance to make lemonade before he is booted from the national consciousness.
