Megyn Kelly said on Thursday that CNN host Don Lemon has “a pattern” of making “sexist” comments to his female colleagues following his remarks about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley not being in her “prime” — and Kelly brought the receipts.
During Sirius XM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, the host was speaking with guests Jim Geraghty and Michael Brendan Dougherty about Lemon claiming that Haley “isn’t in her prime” following her presidential announcement on Tuesday, and calling on Americans to reject leaders “past” their “prime.”
“The latest comment that he has made I would submit to you is just the latest in a series of truly sexist comments by this guy,” Kelly explained. “I don’t know how much longer CNN can allow this to go on. … I’m so irritated by this guy, and, honestly, his misogyny — and I don’t use that word about a lot of people — but there’s a pattern with him. The absurdity of suggesting that a woman is past her prime when she is 51 years old, like Nikki Haley.”
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“And by the way, what an insult to people like Dana Bash, who’s 51 and his colleague at CNN,” she added. “Sorry, ‘past your due date.’ What does he mean by ‘prime’? The co-anchor [Poppy Harlow] had an instinct that this was offensive, but frankly wasn’t effective enough to actually shove it down his throat and recognize — are you referring to childbearing years? Because that is something women can mostly only do in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. And he wouldn’t even sign on to that. Just childbearing is not what determines whether a woman is in her prime.”
The former Fox News host said Lemon has a “pattern” of “diminishing” women, noting when the CNN host said to his colleague S.E. Cupp that she was having “mommy brain” when she forgot her words during a segment.
“No, you a**,” the host stated. “That has nothing to do with her ‘mommy brain.’ People forget their words, male and female. This is a pattern with him. … He doesn’t understand anything about women, about America, about prime. He’s 56, by the way. I guess he’d be the first to tell you he’s still in his prime…”
“And it ties in with the allegations that have been made against him recently, that he was screaming at his co-host Kaitlan Collins because she had the temerity to interrupt him, and he was annoyed,” she added. “And he was screaming at her to the point where the crew was uncomfortable and Kaitlan Collins reportedly ran out of the studio. … But this is a pattern with this guy. He does not respect women. He does not see women as equals.”
Megyn Kelly concluded the segment, sharing “that this guy is an abusive, sexist jerk. And it’s time for him to go.”
Later, Lemon took to Twitter, calling his comments “inartful and irrelevant.” Kelly tweeted that his post wasn’t “going to cut it.”
“So, no apology for his disgusting (latest example of) sexism. [CNN] — this isn’t going to cut it,” the podcast host shared.
Seriously-what was “inartful” about his comments? Inartful is when you use the wrong word to make a valid point. He made these comments 3x, tripling down on them. Argued the point when challenged. This wasn’t clumsy speech- it was misogyny. And it’s not his 1st time.
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) February 16, 2023
“Seriously-what was ‘inartful’ about his comments?” the host added. “Inartful is when you use the wrong word to make a valid point. He made these comments 3x, tripling down on them. Argued the point when challenged. This wasn’t clumsy speech — it was misogyny. And it’s not his 1st time.”