‘Morning Joe’ Blasted by Don Lemon for Preaching ‘Civility’ With Trump

Don Lemon has chimed in on the Morning Joe debate regarding whether people should “be civil” towards President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration.

The former CNN anchor blasted MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski for their recent discussion about “civility” towards Trump and MAGA supporters. On Friday’s (January 10) Morning Joe, Scarborough and former RNC chair Michael Steele got into a heated debate after the former praised Barack Obama for being friendly with Trump at Jimmy Carter‘s funeral.

On the latest episode of The Don Lemon Show podcast, the former CNN This Morning co-host referenced a comment made by The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser during the Morning Joe discussion. Glasser warned against too much “civility,” comparing it to Vladimir Putin’s rise in Russia.

“Do you guys understand what she said? Do you guys get what she said?” Lemon said, per Mediaite. “They’re trying to make people civil, right? And they’re having these fights over this because civility, when the whole structural fabric and nature of the society was deteriorating.”

“So when you see something like what happened yesterday, people have a right to be concerned because they go, well, if they’re going to do that there publicly, what are they going to say and do behind closed doors?” he continued. “If they’re going to acquiesce seemingly like that publicly, then what does that mean in the broader sense of the structure of the fabric of our society?”

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Lemon added, “You have to indicate to the American people that this is not normal… grinning with someone that you have called a fascist over the last couple of years and the last months. That’s not normal. Folks are tired of the behavior being normalized. Civility does not mean befriending people or forgoing your morals and your principles and your character.”

In November, Scarborough and Brzezinski faced backlash after they revealed they traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump following his 2024 presidential victory. Defending their decision, Brzezinski stated, “Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump but also talking with him.”

Lemon, who was fired from CNN in April 2023, went on to say, “If someone disrespects my loved one, I don’t have to smile in their f****** face! And they’re going to know it. Now, listen, you guys could be right. Barack Obama is a classy guy. But these are the very same MAGA people who have called, and Donald Trump has helped promote, calling Michelle Obama a man. I’m not smiling in your face if you’re calling my sister and my mother or my wife or my girlfriend a man. F*** you!”