CNN’s Don Lemon is now anti-riot, but not because looting and violence are wrong.
The cable news host who bills himself as a serious, objective journalist opposes the anti-police riots now because he is worried that the destruction and mayhem will hurt the Democratic Party’s electoral chances in the fall.
How is that for a principled stand?
Lemon’s about-face on the righteousness of rioting came Tuesday evening as his CNN colleague Chris Cuomo warned that the anti-police violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where two rioters have been shot and killed, is “a Rorschach test for where this country is.”
Cuomo, who appears also to have experienced a change of heart on the issue of anti-police rioting due to bad polling numbers, added, “I think it probably represents the biggest threat to the Democratic cause.”
Lemon agreed, saying Cuomo took the words right out of his mouth.
“Kenosha is a Rorschach test for the entire country, and I think this is a blind spot for Democrats,” said Lemon. “I think Democrats are ignoring this problem or hoping that it will go away, and it’s not going to go away.”
“But guess what?” the cable anchor added. “The rioting has to stop. Chris, as you know and I know, it’s showing up in the polling. It’s showing up in focus groups. It is the only thing — it is the only thing right now that is sticking.”
Ah, the rioting must stop because it polls poorly for the Democrats, not because people are getting hurt and livelihoods destroyed. Got it.
This is such a farcical change of attitude for these two partisan operatives. Lemon himself defended anti-police riots in May, soft-pedaling them as the “mechanism for a restructure of our country or for some sort of change.” Lemon’s idiot co-worker, Cuomo, also attacked critics of the riots in June, claiming that “too many see the protests as the problem.”
“And please,” Cuomo added at the time, “show me where it says that protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful. Because I can show you outraged citizens are the ones who have made America what she is and led to any major milestones.”
The word “peaceably” is right there in the text of the First Amendment.
Cuomo continued his attacks on those who have been critical of the rioters, claiming in July that they are “ignoring the reality and … are picking on the aberrations for bad reason.”
But that was then. This is now. Now, polling and focus group results show that, actually, razing cities and towns to the ground is bad for the business of getting elected.
“The ongoing violence in American cities is an increasing vulnerability for Dems,” communications professional and Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell said on Aug. 24. “It’s popping in my focus groups as well. Americans were originally on the side of protesters. But as the unrest continues, attitudes are shifting. It’s the one R talking point starting to stick.”
She added, “This is why Trump is leaning so hard into the LAW AND ORDER message. It’s starting to resonate — and beyond Trump’s base. And my guess is you’ll hear a lot about violence at the convention as R’s want to make sure they connect it to Democratic lead cities and not Trump’s America.”
This is why two CNN anchors who have previously defended the anti-police riots have changed their minds suddenly. It is because the destruction may hurt the Democratic Party at the polls.
This is CNN.
