After a few major missteps that included saying 51-year-old former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley "wasn't in her prime" because she was over 40, CNN terminated its relationship with former anchor Don Lemon on April 23.
At the time Lemon expressed shock at the sudden ending of his 17-year tenure via a tweet. But since then Lemon, 57, has clearly had some time to think about how it all went down -- and now he's made some public commentary via Memphis's ABC24 in an exclusive interview. And some of it is quite spicy.
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"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 said, when he was asked about his past at CNN. "I think that would be a dereliction of journalistic duty to do those sorts of things."
Lemon also spoke of his own journalistic integrity, saying, "I have a responsibility as an American — not only as a journalist — to tell the truth and abide by the promises of the Constitution," he said.
"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."
Lemon has not pursued a new job in news since leaving CNN, telling ABC24 that he's taking his time before making a move.
"I'm not going to force anything," he said. "I'm not going to let other people's timeline influence me. I know people say, 'I miss you on television. What is your next move?' I'm figuring that out. I don't have to be in a rush."
Since he left CNN, Lemon has tweeted a few times, his latest being a retweet of a complicated Twitter thread about Nikki Haley's past.
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