CNN anchor Don Lemon said Thursday during the handoff between shows that it was time to blame the “selfish” and “ignorant” unvaccinated for the coronavirus Delta variant surge.
Lemon said, “I don’t know if we can get this under control. We had the opportunity. None of this had to happen. Children didn’t have to get sick. If we didn’t let the virus to mutate and this variant to catch on, we could have had this under control. We were well on our way, and the only people you can blame, the only people you can blame — this isn’t shaming— the unvaccinated. The unvaccinated people have put us in the position we’re in now. And it is not a good place.”
Anchor Chris Cuomo said, “We showed the numbers tonight. 37% of the unvaccinated are white Republicans. It doesn’t have to be like that.”
Lemon said, “You have to be more direct. More concerted effort to say get vaccinated. You’re not just killing yourself. You’re going to kill other people. That’s what you have to start telling people. If you don’t get vaccinated, you can’t come into this office or this place of business. If you don’t get vaccinated, you can’t come into this gym. If you don’t get vaccinated, you can’t get on to this airplane. That has nothing to do with freedom. It has nothing to do with liberty. You don’t have the freedom and the liberty to put other people in jeopardy. You don’t have that. You have to drive the speed limit. You have to obey the rules.”
He added, “You have to have certain rules in society if we all are going to continue to live and keep each other alive. You cannot be that selfish and frankly, that ignorant.”
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