CNN’s Don Lemon admitted he would have thought about beating up a freedom-loving patriot who went viral for not wearing a mask on the New York City subway and confronting a woman who was masked.
In the viral video, the masked woman yelled at the man for not wearing a mask and said she hoped he was fined.
We need to find out who this guy is and where he works because this was absolutely unacceptable. Unhinged #antimasker #Antivaxxer bullied an elderly woman on the #subway #NYC today. pic.twitter.com/vGHfPn30Kk
— Naviko (@Subway_DJ) August 16, 2021
The man responded, saying he supported individual freedom and chanting “1776.” He then warned other passengers not to get near him.
“I can’t believe in a New York City subway that that guy didn’t get tuned up,” CNN’s Chris Cuomo said to Lemon. “I’m glad he didn’t, I know that wouldn’t be the best of us.”
Lemon then said he would have gotten physical with the man if he had been there.
“Oh, he might of if I had been on there. I’m not kidding,” Lemon said.
Just CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon laughing and fantasizing about beating up a guy on the subway for not wearing a mask. pic.twitter.com/2OkEVbOJL9
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) August 18, 2021
Lemon then tried to brush off his threat, saying Americans should try to persuade each other with “love and grace.”
“We’re in a bad place but … it’s going to be up to people like me and you, we have a platform, we can talk about it, we can try to move people in the right direction and give them the facts every night with passion and with love and grace,” he said.
Cuomo, currently facing harsh criticism for his role in coaching his brother, out-going New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during a string of sexual harassment scandals, has been known in the past to lose his cool with members of the public.
After viciously berating a man who mocked him by calling him “Fredo” (a reference to the Corleone family in The Godfather) he toyed with the idea of leaving CNN last year.
“I don’t like what I do professionally,” he said. “I don’t think it’s worth my time.”
Lemon, known for his many unhinged on-air rants, also has a troubling way of interacting with members of the public.
In 2019, he was accused of forcibly assaulting a fellow bar patron by forcing the man to smell his bodily excretions.
“Mr. Lemon … put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers into Plaintiff’s mustache and under Plaintiff’s nose,” said a lawsuit that is currently working its way through the federal district court in New York.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
