Don Lemon on Friday blasted Donald Trump for comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln and asserting that he has actually been better for black people than Lincoln.
Said Lemon: “63 percent of Americans disapprove of how this president is handling race relations. He just won't hear them. You can hear him, right? But you can hear him, right? You can hear him comparing himself to President Lincoln. Lincoln, who freed thousands and thousands of enslaved black people?”
Lemon then played a clip of Trump telling black Fox News reporter Harris Faulkner, “I think I have done more for the black people than any other president. And let's take a pass on Lincoln. Because he did good, although it's always questionable.”
Faulkner answered back: “We are free, Mr. President. He did well.”
Lemon interjected: “Questionable? Lincoln's legacy is ‘questionable?' That's pathetic! Really pathetic and unworthy of office. I don't know whether this president is questioning the legacy of Lincoln, or whether he can't admit anybody was a better president.”
On Friday, Lemon also went off on people who argue that Confederate names should be kept on military bases.
Said Lemon: “I think that the Confederate flag and monuments, they're not a sign of progress. I think it's a sign of anti-Americanism. They're symbols of regression, symbols of retrogression, symbols of decline. Again, the president is missing the moment when it comes to this. There are even staunch conservatives who understand that it is time to get rid of the Confederate flag in our culture. It is time to rename some military installations. Who would want to go to school — let's just be honest — would you want to go to a Hitler high school? Would you want to go to — have your kids play in Bin Laden park? If you were a black military member, would you want to go to — or any military member of any race — would you like to have served at Fort Benedict Arnold?
