Don Lemon has a solution for the White House’s contentious relationship with reporters who aren’t sympathetic to the Biden administration: just stop answering their questions.
The CNN anchor suggested on his primetime show Tuesday night that “kind” and “courteous” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki simply stop calling on Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who tends to lob fastballs during press briefings rather than simply tee up easy swings for an administration that has so far fallen woefully short of just about every campaign promise – and then some.
“Why does Jen Psaki even continue to call on Fox in the briefing room?” Lemon wondered aloud to fellow CNN anchor Brian Stelter.
“If your network is promoting B.S. and lies about what is actually happening in the country, and helping to inspire and incite an insurrection, why should they even be able to take part in legitimate press briefing and legitimate journalism? Why did they even allow Fox to pretend in the briefing room they’re a real news organization?" he continued, apparently overlooking the part of the U.S. Constitution in which “freedom of the press” does not demand that a reporter first agree to publish nothing but “news” the government likes.
CNN’s @donlemon: "Why does Jen Psaki continue to call on Fox in the briefing room?”
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 14, 2021
"Why should they be able to take part in a legitimate press briefing and legitimate journalism?"
"Why did they even allow Fox to pretend in the briefing room they’re a real news organization?" pic.twitter.com/HEf06pesIT
It’s an interesting take from an anchor whose cohort, now-former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, was just fired for using his journalistic connections to help his brother, ex-NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, try to squirm out of multiple sexual assault allegations. That news was revealed just days before Jussie Smollett, an actor found guilty of staging a hate crime hoax against himself in 2020, testified in court that Lemon had given him a heads up that Chicago police at the time didn’t believe his tale of having been assaulted by two MAGA hat-wearing men hurling racial slurs. Lemon was covering the story at the time, but never revealed to his viewers that he was quietly communicating with Smollett while purporting to report the “news” about the actor’s situation.