Don Lemon took veiled shots at CNN in his first interview since being fired from the network in April, alluding to the decision to host a town hall with Donald Trump as “a dereliction of journalistic duty.”
“I don’t believe in platforming liars and bigots, insurrectionists and election deniers and putting them on the same footing as people who are telling the truth; people who are fighting for what’s right, people who are abiding by the constitution,” Lemon told a local ABC affiliate in Tennessee.
“I think that would be a dereliction of journalistic duty to do those sorts of things,” he added.
During another section of the interview, Lemon spoke about his “responsibility” to the truth. “I have a responsibility as an American — not only as a journalist — to tell the truth and abide by the promises of the constitution,” Lemon told the outlet.
“Because the constitution says a more perfect union — not a perfect union. I’m not perfect. No one is, but I think to fulfill the promise of the constitution, we have to stand up for what is right. We have to stand up for the truth.”
In April, Lemon broadcast to his Twitter followers that he was “stunned” by CNN’s decision to fire him. “I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon wrote.
“It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”
Lemon’s comments come on the heels of an explosive 15-000 word feature in The Atlantic by Tim Alberta, revealing rapidly eroding confidence in CNN’s newly-appointed CEO, Chris Licht.
The piece, based on nearly 100 interviews, left network employees shocked. Licht defended the decision to host the Trump town hall in comments to Alberta, dismissing the wave of internal criticism he received from staffers who felt the event only served to elevate Trump’s election denial.
Brian Stelter, a former chief media correspondent who spent nearly a decade with CNN before leaving last August, reported that many employees were shocked by Licht’s blunt criticisms of the work they did during the Trump presidency.
“I woke up to messages like this from CNNers: ‘He [Licht] made a bunch of these comments to Alberta without any apparent regard for how hurtful they’d be,’” Stelter tweeted following the piece’s publication in early June.
“The consensus, among people who knew @TimAlberta’s piece was coming, is that it’s much ‘worse’ than they expected. Licht confided in Alberta the way a client confides in a therapist. Some CNN staffers are shocked,” Stelter wrote.
The report ultimately led to Licht’s dismissal as CEO within days of being published.
Asked about his future at the end of the interview, Lemon seemed unconcerned. “I’m not worried about it at all. People are more worried about me than I am about myself.”
“I am fine. I have somebody looking out for me.”