‘OPEN YOUR EYES’

CNN’s Don Lemon Goes Off on Trump for ‘Declaring War on Americans’

“We are teetering on a dictatorship,” the CNN host said. “This is chaos.”

By Matt Wilstein & Andrew KirellJun 01, 2020

Immediately following President Donald Trump’s Rose Garden address to the nation, as military police continued to fire tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters, CNN host Don Lemon delivered a stark message to viewers about what they were watching.

“This was a made for television moment,” Lemon said. “Open your eyes, America. Open your eyes. We are teetering on a dictatorship. This is chaos.”

“Is the president declaring war on Americans?” he asked. “What is happening here? He’s saying he wants to protect peaceful protesters at the same time sending law enforcement and military into the streets to push peaceful protesters back, to be aggressive with peaceful protesters. He is doing the exact opposite of what he said in that speech.”

“I think the president is playing a very, very dangerous game here,” Lemon continued. “There are a lot of Americans who are out on these streets who are upset, who are frustrated, who are angry.”

Lemon stressed that he is “not condoning violence at all” and hopes that protesters “remain peaceful.” But, he added, “I hope that they stand up and fight for their rights to peacefully protest in this country.”

With Trump’s threats to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, the host said, “Now the entire country, according to his orders, we are living under a militarized country or we will be soon and it will play out in front of our very eyes on national television.”