Two recent CNN panelists are defending themselves against backlash stemming from a segment in which they mocked President Trump’s supporters.
CNN’s Don Lemon was joined by New York Times columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali and GOP strategist Rick Wilson over the weekend to discuss the recent feud between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. After an interview last week, Pompeo screamed at Kelly and demanded she locate Ukraine on an unlabeled map.
During the conversation, Wilson pivoted to the president’s supporters and suggested they wouldn’t be able to find Ukraine on a map and that they would call being able to so a sign of elitism. Ali and Lemon laughed with Wilson, who used fake a southern accent to imitate a Trump supporter. Ali later chimed in on their ridicule of Trump voters, while Lemon laughed.
The two panelists faced strong backlash for depicting the president’s supporters as uneducated after the segment went viral on Monday night, but neither appeared remorseful for the clip.
Wilson, who has been known for incendiary comments about the president and his supporters, argued that the outrage was “fake” because “the MAGA world wants the freedom to attack, insult, demean, and abuse anyone who doesn’t aggressively worship Donald Trump. They can’t stand anyone who punches back, and hope they can intimidate or shame me.”
The strategist, who worked for Evan McMullin’s 2016 presidential campaign, continued to attack the president and his supporters, telling the Washington Examiner, “Once again the MAGA tough guy ‘f— your feelings’ crowd demonstrates that what really drives them is a grinding social anxiety fueled by a weaponized and monetized outrage machine.”
He added, “What set the White House off was that Trump hates being called out for his utter ignorance of the world; all the phony outrage at me is just Trump fundraising grifters milking the MAGA herd for donations.”
1/ The fundamental underpinning of the fake outrage is simple.
The MAGA world wants the freedom to attack, insult, demean, and abuse anyone who doesn’t aggressively worship Donald Trump.
They can’t stand anyone who punches back, and hope they can intimidate or shame me.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 28, 2020
“At the top of the pyramid are the Trump email grifters and Fox News outrage hustlers,” he said in another tweet. “They recognize that all that is left inside the Republican Party as an ideology is a hatred of elites and the media. Sorry. No participation trophies here for MAGAs. They hope that they can shield their bad behavior, pathologies, willful ignorance, weaknesses, credulity, nature, and worship of Donald Trump behind a “how dare you talk down to me” anger without response.”
3/ Sorry. No participation trophies here for MAGAs.
They hope that they can shield their bad behavior, pathologies, willful ignorance, weaknesses, credulity, nature, and worship of Donald Trump behind a “how dare you talk down to me” anger without response.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 28, 2020
Wilson later called Trump “an impeached, corrupt scumbag,” in response to Ivanka Trump, who called the segment “arrogant” and “disgusting.”
Someday, your children will know that their grandfather was a serial bankrupt, was duped by foreign powers, screwed porn stars, insulted war heroes, and went down in history as an impeached, corrupt scumbag.
And really, isn’t that the greatest gift of all? https://t.co/hMuA3S6s6z
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 28, 2020
Ali responded similarly to negative tweets and private messages directed to him. He thanked the president for tweeting a clip from the segment, which Trump captioned, “Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television (with terrible ratings!).”
“Thank you for sharing our clip. Can you please release your school transcripts that will show you’re a very stable genius? Also, can you release your taxes and the full transcript of your ‘beautiful’ phone call with Zelensky? Also, can you locate Bangladesh on a map? #BeBest.”
Thank you for sharing our clip. Can you please release your school transcripts that will show you’re a very stable genius? Also, can you release your taxes and the full transcript of your “beautiful” phone call with Zelensky? Also, can you locate Bangladesh on a map? #BeBest. https://t.co/ydPAcO1rQo
— Wajahat “Some Muslim…I’ve Never Heard Of” Ali (@WajahatAli) January 28, 2020
“How come no one ever cares about the Women, Immigrants, Black people, Journalists, Democrats, Never Trumper Republicans, Mexicans, Muslims that Trump always mocks and ridicules and threatens with malicious cruelty? Maybe he’ll lose because of the rest of us,” he added.
How come no one ever cares about the Women, Immigrants, Black people, Journalists, Democrats, Never Trumper Republicans, Mexicans, Muslims that Trump always mocks and ridicules and threatens with malicious cruelty? Maybe he’ll lose because of the rest of us. https://t.co/iF00yJkvYh
— Wajahat “Some Muslim…I’ve Never Heard Of” Ali (@WajahatAli) January 28, 2020
Ali also tweeted at Wilson, saying he believes the they “‘triggered’ the ‘snowflakes’ just by doing a short segment on TV with some levity.” He additionally noted that “friends are now concerned about my safety,” but said, “I refuse to be intimidated & bullied by bad faith actors who cry fake victimhood, whining about a harmless, silly 30 second clip while endorsing Trump, a cruel vulgarian who debases everyone.”
Lemon has not tweeted since the clip went viral. CNN did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
