CNN anchor Don Lemon during Friday’s broadcast of his show “Tonight” accused Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) of “spewing blatant racism” while discussing the deadly Capitol riots during a radio interview.
Lemon said, “What they are fighting for is trying to disenfranchise voters. Mainly people of color who voted for Joe Biden. There are more than 250 bills nationwide to roll back voter access. And it’s nothing but a blatant attempt by Republicans to claw their way back to power, all on a big lie about an election that was stolen because the election was not stolen. If you can’t win fair and square, stop them from voting. That’s the strategy. What they care about is taking away your vote and defending that big lie that i told you about, even now, even after everything we saw on January 6th when Trump-supporting extremists, racists, stormed the seat of our government, incited by the then-president. I want you to listen to this very, very closely, okay? Put down whatever it is you’re drinking or whatever you’re doing and get everybody, gather in front of the TV set because here is Senator Ron Johnson in a radio interview, and he is spewing blatant racism, claiming he wasn’t afraid of the Capitol rioters, because, well, why don’t you take a listen for yourself.”
In a soundbite from “The Joe Pags Show,” Johnson said, “I’m also criticized because I made the comment that on January 6, I never felt threatened because I didn’t. And mainly because I knew even though those thousands of people, there were marching on the Capitol, were trying to pressure people like me to vote the way they wanted me to vote. I knew those are people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law. So I wasn’t concerned. Had the tables been turned —this could mean trouble — had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned.”
Lemon said, “Did you hear him? He wasn’t afraid of those people, maybe because they’re white? Not maybe. That’s the reason. Because if they were black, he would be afraid of them.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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