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Don Lemon Tonight
Majority Of GOP Believe In Trump's Lie; GOP Enablers Giving Rep. Greene A Pass; Harsh Rhetoric Is Now The Right's Mantra; LeBron James' Silence On Status Of Vaccination; LGBTQ Bans NYPD Police To Join Parade March. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired May 24, 2021 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST (on camera): Thank you for your time and attention. "DON LEMON TONIGHT" starts right now with the big star, D. Lemon.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: How are you doing? Do you have a good weekend?
CUOMO: Better than I deserved.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I got to fix one. My haircut is long. Gees. I have a little Afro going on.
CUOMO: I', sorry, did you want me to answer a question?
LEMON: I'm talking to myself while you're -- that's like totally on relationship. Sorry.
CUOMO: You just show no respect.
LEMON: That's our relationship. You'll start talking I'll be like, Chris, I got something to say. By the way, all of our friends this weekend agreed, you talk more than me. Every single person that we had lunch with yesterday. One hundred percent. Except for you.
CUOMO: OK. What happened when the time was actually counted?
LEMON: Well, you knew the time was being counted, so, you prepared yourself. You restrained yourself as much as you can restrain yourself. Not to speak as much as you normally do.
CUOMO: So, it was a setup?
LEMON: It was rigged. It was a setup. The whole thing is rigged.
CUOMO: The whole thing is, yes.
LEMON: Yes. The whole thing is. It's like the, you know, yes.
CUOMO: I'm part of the big lie, that's what you're trying to say.
LEMON: I want to say you are part of the big lie. You are the big lie.
CUOMO: You think Chris Christie is running for president?
LEMON: Is water wet? Yes, of course he's going to run for president. Now is he going to win? That's a whole different story. Should he run? That's a whole different story as well. I'm not going to answer any of those but I think you know the answer.
CUOMO: I'll tell you one think. I used to think it was too cute by half when people won't answer, but in this day and age, wouldn't you be nuts to put your hat in the ring so that you can get chewed on for that much longer?
LEMON: Yes, but I -- look, God bless him, I don't understand why anyone would want to be, you know, a politician especially, let alone president of the United States, especially if you have somewhat of a good life. Do you want that much scrutiny?
That many people digging into everything? I mean, it's enough as it is with social media, and the information age. Everyone already knows everything about you. Right? But do you really want that? Who would want to be the president of the United States? I can't imagine it? But you know.
CUOMO: Who would want to have the task. Look, he couldn't even give a straight answer about the January 6th commission.
LEMON: Well.
CUOMO: Now, we both know that Chris Christie knows there should be a commission.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: But he also knows, you can't say that if you want to survive in that party. What does that tell you? Why would you want to be involved with that?
LEMON: Yes. I mean, there is other things, Chris Christie, you know. Sometimes, Chris Christie is a really straight shooter. And then other times, you know, as we have witnessed, he can obfuscate. let's just be --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Politicians are in the business of being tough to pin down when it is not convenient.
LEMON: Well.
CUOMO: And look, we have allowed that culture to get away from us in a way that, now, so many are so disaffected, that they don't even hold these people to the same rules that they would in the rest of their lives. LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: That's what I'm hoping we can get back to and closer to.
LEMON: Yes. Just so you know, I wasn't trying to be cool tonight. The time got away from me.
CUOMO: The best thing that could happen to that tie is to not be worn.
LEMON: I didn't have time to put it on.
CUOMO: Man, last time I saw something like that, it was tied around an old oak tree.
LEMON: But it's really, it's a really old tie.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Tony Orlando and Dawn --
LEMON: Yes. Yes, yellow Ribbon, I got it. I got it. The last time I saw something like this, it was on a -- the former guy. Because it's one of those.
CUOMO: If you put that on, it'll hurt your head space.
LEMON: I saw you were like going into the whole bolo thing, and bolted out of it. I was like, my gosh, look at what time it is. Have someone come up, throw some powder on my oily face.
CUOMO: Hey, that bolo was a good one.
LEMON: It was.
CUOMO: I had a man on our show --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- who wanted us to believe 100 percent, and he believes --
LEMON: Oversight guy.
CUOMO: -- that he was involved with a Russian spy at the direction of the FBI. He is now the money behind an organization that will have a hand, maybe a heavy hand, in picking the volunteers for the next level of 'fraudit' in Arizona.
LEMON: Yes. Well, there is so much cockiness (Ph) going around, and some of then you talked about tonight. I'll be kind.
CUOMO: That guy.
LEMON: I won't say interviewed.
CUOMO: That guy --
LEMON: I got to go. That guy is different. OK. See you. I'm glad -- it was good seeing you yesterday.
CUOMO: I love you, D. Lemon.
LEMON: Thanks for not picking up the check again.
CUOMO: Facts first.
LEMON: I love you too.
CUOMO: Have a great night.
LEMON: This is DON LEMON TONIGHT. Thanks for joining.
And we've got to talk about the cancer, really, that is spreading in this country. It's the truth. It's the hate. The hate that's spreading like a virus. Leading to attacks that put Americans in danger every single day. The ignorance that allows hate to metastasize.
The lies spread by too many elected officials, who are supposed to be leading us but only care about their own political scants and the complete lack of common truth that is driving us apart in this country.
It really is a sickness. And it's happening everywhere you look. The anti-Semitism, the anti-Semitic attacks in cities across this country from Los Angeles to New York.
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Where police are increasing patrols tonight at synagogues, schools, and across Jewish communities. It's sad. And after two anti -- that after two anti-Semitic incidents in the same Brooklyn neighborhood happen on Saturday night, after a 29-year-old Jewish man was punched, kicked, and pepper sprayed last week in Times Square. We had him on this program on Friday. Two men arrested and charged.
And in Los Angeles, a suspect arrested after several Jewish people at a sushi restaurant were targeted. That's -- come on, people. What is going on? This is what the president of the United States is saying. Calling attacks on the Jewish community, and I quote here, "despicable." The Vice President, Kamala Harris, saying the surge must be called
out, condemned, and stopped.
And in a time when hate fueled violence is spreading, the three top Republicans in the house are hiding their heads in the sand, ignoring multiple requests from CNN to respond to hateful ignorant lies from the QAnon space-laser congresswoman who compares wearing a mask to Jews being sent to the gas chamber in the Holocaust. I said that slowly. Yes. Because I wanted you to hear it. That's what she's doing. Wearing mask to the Holocaust. A comparison.
This is a time when we need to call out the hate. We need to call out the cowardly leaders who are afraid to speak the truth. To call out Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Elise Stefanik who are too afraid to say what we all know, what they must know. They must know that this is wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): We can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star. And they were definitely treated like second class citizens. So much so, that they were put in trains and taken through gas chambers in Nazi Germany. And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): And then, she doubled down on her own hateful ignorance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: I stand by all of my statements. I have said nothing wrong. I think any rational Jewish person didn't like what happened in Nazi Germany. Any rational Jewish person doesn't like what's happening with overbearing mask mandates and overbearing vaccine policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Just any rational person. The silence of Kevin McCarthy in the face of that. Stunning. It seems like she can say whatever she wants no matter how blatant the lies, how offensive, no matter how disgusting the hate. And the leaders of the Republican Party are too afraid to call out one freshman congresswoman who is seemingly never met a liar or conspiracy theory that she didn't like.
Let's not forget her insane claim about these Jewish space lasers controlled by the Rothschild family, a frequent target of anti-Semites started the California wildfires. That's what she said. It's no apparent, it's no accident apparently that Marjorie Taylor Greene would say something anti-Semitic now. What does it take to get a reprimand from Kevin McCarthy? How low do you have to go before he decides enough is enough?
Well, we know one Republican who got reprimanded, one, we know one Republican who paid a price for what she said for telling the truth and that's Liz Cheney, is one of just a handful in her party who aren't afraid to tell the truth now tweeting, Marjorie Taylor Greene's lies are, quote, "evil lunacy." Again, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney "evil lunacy."
Yes, she is on the outs. While it seems like nothing to QAnon congresswoman can say that won't -- that they won't tolerate. What were they afraid of? Why were so few Republicans willing to stand up against the lies? Why are truth tellers like Congressman Peter Meijer who is so far, so few and far between? Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER MEIJER (R-MI): First off, it's -- any comparisons to the Holocaust it's beyond reprehensible. This is -- I don't even have words to describe how disappointing it is to see this hyperbolic speech that, frankly, amps up and plays into a lot of the anti- Semitism that we've been seeing in our society today. Vicious attacks on the streets of New York, and in Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): If you don't stand up against the lies and the liars, what do you stand for? Adam Kinzinger saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): I do think Kevin has failed to tell the truth to the Republicans and to the American people. And it pains me to say it. It's not like I enjoy standing up and saying this. But people, the 74 million voters who voted for Donald Trump that believe, a number of them that believe the election was stolen, they believe it because their leaders have not told them otherwise.
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The people they trust have either been silent or not told them the truth. That's where Kevin has failed. Because he told the truth on January 13th, something around then. And then he went to Mar-a-Lago and said Donald Trump is the leader of the party. He is right, Donald Trump is the leader of the party. But we need to tell people the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): He is right. He is right. Right on. That's where the Republican Party is right now. Own it. The white GOP is turning into a party of reactionaries. Far outside the mainstream in America. And nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to race.
I want you to take a look at this. This is an Axios/Ipsos poll on America one year after George Floyd. It shows white Republicans and white Democrats are living in two different Americas. A stunning 79 percent of white Republicans say the country has made the changes needed to give Black Americans equal rights with White Americans.
Only 12 percent of white Democrats agreed with that. Just 8 percent of white Republicans say the protest last year over racial injustice had of positive impact on society, compared that to 60 percent of white Democrats. And 47 percent of white Republican say America is not a racist country. Just 4 percent of white Democrats agree.
Like I said, the party of reactionaries. The lack of a common truth and common-sense driving Americans apart. Is it any wonder the GOP is so determined to kill the January 6th commission before it even starts? Not even allowing debate? They are doing everything that they can to hide the truth of what happened on one of the darkest days in our history? Even though we all saw it, as I always say, with our own eyes.
There it is, in front of your face right there. We saw violent Trump supporting rioters beating police, hunting for the very lawmakers who now want to bury the truth of what happened. The truth that those rioters could've killed them. Rioters chanting hang Mike Pence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): A Senate vote on the January 6th commission looking likely this week with more and more Republicans telling the party line and signaling that they are going to vote no. Mitt Romney saying tonight he'd be a rare yes vote. Majority Leader Kevin Schumer saying yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We're going to vote on the January 6th commission in the Senate and the American people will see what every member stands on the side of truth or on the side of Donald Trump's big lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): Mixing up the names, Kevin McCarthy and Chuck Schumer. Chuck Schumer saying this. So that's what all of this is -- this is in service of the big lie. The big lie and the big liar. The disgraced, twice-impeached, one term former president who lost the House, lost the Senate, and lost the White House.
That's why they are counting ballots in a sham audit in Arizona, whatever, I don't know why we'd even call it an audit. It's just like a, yes, I don't know. Yes, 'fraudit.' I like that. Thank you. I wish I could say it was me, but that was my trusty executive producer in my ear, 'fraudit.' Thank you, Maria.
That's why they are getting ready to 'fraudit' ballots again in Georgia. Following three fraudits, one including a hand recount last year for three audits, one including a hand recount last year. Like I said, the lies, the ignorance, the hate driving us apart. And if you don't stand up against the lies and the liars, if you don't stand up, what do you stand for?
It's obvious what the Republican Party stands for right now. Lies and the lying liars who lie. She's one of the few Republicans willing to stand up to the former president. Her party threw her under the bus for it, so why is Liz Cheney letting them off the hook for the big lie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN SWAN, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: How much culpability do Republican elites have for fertilizing the soil for the big lie?
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): That is -- that's not at all how I think about it. You will be surprised to hear.
(END VIDEO CLIP) [22:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): You know what tomorrow marks? One year, can you believe it, since the murder of George Floyd. The video of an officer with his knee on his neck shocking the world. Spurring a global reckoning on race. Protests lasting weeks almost every major city.
George Floyd's family is going to meet with President Biden tomorrow, but what has changed in a year, really? A senator say that they are getting closer to a bipartisan deal to overhaul policing. But there is no deal yet.
Matthew Dowd joins me now. He's a former chief strategist for President George W. Bush. I hate to say G.W., I think it's a little disrespectful, so, anyway I almost said G.W., but George W. Bush. Thank you for joining us, sir. Good to see you.
MATTHEW DOWD, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGIST FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: You too, Don. You could just say 43.
LEMON: Yes, OK, all right. I like that. It's interesting when I think about it, you know, I knew it was tomorrow's anniversary but when I said it in front of this camera I actually said it to you, just think about how last we were in the middle of a pandemic, we were all in quarantine, we couldn't leave our homes and we saw this video.
I mean it is amazing to see what's happened in a year. But is that you're going to make a difference? Let's put up this poll to just help us make us -- help us make the point. It's Axios/Ipsos. If our country has made the changes needed to give Black American equal rights with White Americans, the interesting thing is, Matthew, 79 percent of White Republicans say yes, compared to 12 percent of White Democrats. What does it tell you about how the GOP base views race?
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DOWD: Well, as you and I have talked about before. There is this huge discrepancy between where the GOP is and where Democrats and independents of the country are, where a third of the country is, and where two-thirds of the country is.
There was another poll last week, Don, that said, asking if we needed police reform of the country. And overwhelmingly, independents and Democrats said absolutely we need police reform. Overwhelmingly, Republicans said, no, we don't need police reform in our country today.
And you have to, I mean, watching the last four or five years if we needed any reminder and I guess a lot of us needed it, is that we are a country that is still, which has struggled for 240 years, we've struggled with race throughout the entirety of our country. And every time we have one step forward, we take at least half a step back or even sometimes more than a step back in that. And we've seen that throughout the history of the country that every
time we think, OK, we are going to actually modernize our republic, we are going to get to the point where diversity matters, where we're going to the point where all men and women are created equal.
We take a step back. And I think that's the situation we 're in where most of the country wants to move forward and deal with these issues fundamentally. There is one legacy, two parties that says no, actually we want to go backward.
LEMON: Yes, yes. Yes. I mean, look, this poll shows that 47 percent of Republicans believe America is not a racist country compared with just 4 percent of white Democrats. I mean, how does -- obviously this is playing out in our politics. But what is going on here? How is this playing out our politics right now?
DOWD: Well, I actually think it's an -- I mean, do I think that -- I don't think it's fair to describe a country because a country is not a human being, as racist. Do I think that there are many racist in America? Yes. Do I think that systemic racism exists today? Yes. Do I think systemic racism has existed throughout the entirety of our country, and that many of our founding documents were based on systemic racism? Absolutely, yes.
But I still believe that what we're supposed to do is go towards a more perfect union and we actually believe what was written, as I said that all men and all women are created equal. But I think we are at a time and you and I have had this conversation before, where diversity scares the heck out of a segment of our population.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: More than a heck, Matthew. A hell.
DOWD: That segment of our population.
LEMON: It scares the living daylights out of a big segment. I just learned something from you but I'm going to let you finish, but when you said a country is not racist. I actually -- I actually agree with you because a country is made up of people.
And so, do we have racist or racial issues in the country? Absolutely. Where we founded on racism or racist practices, absolutely. But you know, I never thought about it in that way until you just said that, so, thank you for that. Go on, sorry.
DOWD: No, sure. And I think that's important to keep in mind. I mean, all of us, every single person, I think it's important, every single person is born with biases and prejudices. And I think what we're -- what we're sort of commanded to do or we should do is to struggle through those and identify those in ourselves. And I think that what we have now is a major political party in our country, who is a majority says, no, we are not going to worry about that.
We liked it before, we liked it in the 1950s, or we actually liked it in the 1870s. Because whites were charge. And whites is, I said the other day, whites are still in charge.
LEMON: Yes.
DOWD: It's just they occupy 80 percent of the power in the country and not 90 percent. And it's, I think we'll get through this in the long term, Don, but it's very concerning in the short term that we're still having to struggle. But let's keep in mind that, you know, Emmett Till was killed and it's the people that killed Emmett Till were not found guilty. Medgar Evers was killed and the people that killed Medgar Ever were found not guilty.
And so, the struggle is always long, and it continues. But I think that we should honor the legacy of those who have gone before us by keeping the fight going.
LEMON: I think, look, this is illustrative of where we are, especially with the Republican Party. So, I want you to take a look at these three Republican candidates in 2022, OK? Tonight, we are learning the anti-government activist Ammon Bundy who is currently barred from entering Idaho capitol grounds, running for governor of the states, OK.
There's also Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis man who pointed his gun at Black Lives Matter protesters last summer running for Senate in Missouri. And in Wyoming, state Senator Anthony Bouchard who is trying to unseat Liz Cheney revealing that he impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18. Some Democrats believe the GOP is really going to self-destruct.
Do you disagree? Why -- when you think about the caliber of candidates, or think about it whatever you want. I just laid the facts out. What is going on here? Do you think it's self-destruction? What?
DOWD: So, I think these candidates represent these candidates that are appearing now which we did in the past called complete fringe candidates. They wouldn't get through the guardrails that were in place, that's no longer possible.
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The Republicans have thrown off any guardrails to any crazy or corrupt or incompetent or criminal candidates, and they're just basically saying, come on board, this is who we are. So those -- this existed before, even as recently as they, you know, as in two or three elections ago, they would've had to try to put something in place where this doesn't happen. It's the party stood out.
I think it is a mistake and I've heard a number of Democrats say this. That the GOP is self-destructing. The GOP represents -- and it's going to get at least 45 percent of the vote in 2022 elections, at least 45 percent of the vote in the 2024 elections. And so, the idea of banking on the GOP self-destructing is not going to happen.
And when you combine that 45 percent with gerrymandering, and the way with political jurisdictions basically determine this by geography, they are going to hold many levels of power. And so, anybody that doesn't want that to sort of bank of strategy that says, OK, they'll self- destruct and therefore everything will be fine, I think is mythic and completely flawed way to look at this.
The only way it's going to be dealt with if people proactively deal with it. Us in the media talking about it, but then voters fundamentally coming to conclusion it's not who represents them. I think Democrats need to get off the self-destructive mantra and get on the, what are we going to do about it?
LEMON: Matthew Dowd, you are the man. I don't know if you are channeling me or I'm channeling you, but there is nothing that I disagreed with. I said last week and people got upset that Democrats need to be stronger, the Republican Party is obsolete it needs to be restructured.
But, you know, somehow that is controversy -- controversial when it's the truth? It's the truth. Banking on a party to self-destruct that has created a monster that is, you know, seems to be bulletproof, I don't know. You know? Nothing sticks.
DOWD: I just think, I've been involved in 100 campaigns and every time you come on the appoint it blowing themselves up --
LEMON: Yes.
DOWD: -- it's a strategy that usually leads to a loss on your part.
LEMON: I said that during the 2016 election, and guess what? I had to say I told you so. Thank you, Matthew Dowd. Be well.
DOWD: Thanks, Don. Always great
LEMON: I'll see you soon. So, they just can't quit the big lie even when their party wants to quit them. Liz Cheney backing voting restrictions. Why?
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): Th GOP clinging to the big lie at all costs, at all costs -- what's left when you got, you know, allegiance to a lie? That's all they've got. Not much.
Jonathan Swan joins me now. He is the national political reporter for Axios. Jonathan, good to see you/ Thank you so much for joining.
Let's talk about what's going on Republicans right now because they just can't shake this big lie, the leadership can't even keep minor members in line. You are covering this every single day. You are deep in it. Is there anything that you can see that could change this dynamic?
SWAN: Well, one of the problems, Don, is that polling shows that anywhere between 60 and 70 percent of Republican voters, that's six- zero and seven-zero percent of Republican voters consider Joe Biden an illegitimate president.
And that's not, I mean, that's not a number -- you don't get to 7 out of 10 from some isolated incident. You get that from years and years and years of fertilizing the soil for this. Of telling voters that voter fraud is rampant of telling them that people in the inner cities are voting, four times apiece of illegal immigrants -- all of this stuff.
You do not get it without all of the years proceeding in 2020. And that's why, really is baked into the rhetoric. And that's how we get to this point.
LEMON: Every time I look back, Jonathan, you have an exclusive or some big interview. One of the big interviews along with exclusive information I'm sure with Liz Cheney. Let's play part of your interview and then we will talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWAN: How much culpability do Republican elites have for fertilizing the soil for the big lie?
CHENEY: That is -- that's not at all how I think about it and you will be surprised to hear.
SWAN: Why?
CHENEY: I think that when you look at things like voter fraud, it certainly exists. I will never understand the resistance, for example, for voter I.D. I think you have to show idea to go vote. There is a big difference between that and a president of the United States who loses an election after he tried to steal the election, and refuses to concede.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): So, I get, listen, there is no nuance anymore. But I kind of get what she is saying. She can believe in, you know, voter I.D.s or what have you, but she thinks Republicans bear no responsibility for cultivating Trump's big lie? Can you clarify that, please?
SWAN: Yes, that's right. I mean, so, I agree with you. You can separate the two. And she has said unequivocally that Donald Trump is lying when he says that the election was stolen. But she wants to put that in a silo.
And she believes, or at least says that she believes that there is no connection to, you know, so many Republicans believing this lie. And all of the rhetoric that came for many, many years before talking about voter fraud, et cetera.
The other thing that she says which again I find to be a stretch, is she says that she doesn't see any connection between Donald Trump -- Donald Trump's big lie and all of these efforts in the states by Republicans to pass these restrictive voter laws. So, again, she wants to contain the big lie in a silo, and basically
ignore all of the other context on each side of it.
LEMON: But Jonathan, they're saying they're doing it because the election was stolen. I mean, so, I don't understand.
[22:35:03]
SWAN: Yes, exactly. Right, right. You're like you only need to listen to a number of the -- the more sophisticated of the state lawmakers will deny that. But you are exactly right, Don. Many times, you just have to listen to them, they will say they are doing this because the election was stolen or that, you know, that Trump, you know, it was stolen from Trump. And many of the measures that they are putting in place at the state level are in direct response to some of these complaints that Donald Trump has made. So, it just as you say, --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: It defies logic. It defies logic.
SWAN: Yes.
LEMON: Especially when you look at our great correspondent Donnie O'Sullivan, he talks to Trump supporters all the time, and they'll say, what about all of those ballots that were under the desks in Georgia? And so on. And the truck that did this. And you know, the ones that came from Asia because they had bamboo on them.
All of that came from the big lie. So, I mean, look, Liz Cheney at least she's got some backbone, but she can't have it both ways. She can't say that the rhetoric didn't really contribute to this. And then, while she gets kicked out of leadership, you know, there's Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust, Jonathan. Why are so few of her colleagues even willing to call her out on this B.S.?
SWAN: Well, one of this darkest poll that we ever did, Don, was we compared the popularity of Marjorie Taylor Greene with leaders like Mitch McConnell and Liz Cheney and the fact is that among Republican voters, it's not even close. Marjorie Taylor Greene is far more popular, she has a higher approval than Mitch McConnell and Liz Cheney.
So, if you want to understand how the party views those figures, you just need -- again, you just need to poll the voters and it's really, really stark. Liz Cheney right now, Don, is three times more popular among Democrats than Republicans. So, she's a woman, she's a woman without a party even though she is very conservative. The party is not where she is at.
LEMON: It is just nutty. I do feel like sometimes like I'm sitting here and I am living a "Twilight Zone" episode. Thank you, Jonathan Swan. Jonathan, you can check out on Axios.
SWAN: Thank you. LEMON: Check out the interview with Liz Cheney. Jonathan, I appreciate it. I'll see you soon. Be well.
SWAN: Thank you.
LEMON: So, he's outspoken on social issues, and he doesn't just talk. He takes action. So why is LeBron James keeping quiet on this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Do you mind me asking if you're confirming that you did get the vaccine?
LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: It's not a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[22:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): Really, really important segment right here. Please sit down. Watch it. Basketball superstar LeBron James won't say whether he has received or will receive the coronavirus vaccine.
James, outspoken on social issues like racial justice and voting right, very outspoken, he says his own vaccinations status is not a big deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES: Nathan, you know it's predicated in my family, you know, for the majority. For 99.9 percent of us. So, you know, it's about the health and safety of my family. And that's where it came down. So, making it available to my teammates on the floor and taking care of my body.
UNKNOWN: Do you mind me asking if that if you are confirming that you did get the vaccine?
JAMES: It's not, it's not a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): But to many, it is a very big deal. Including for my next guest, Stephen A. Smith, host of ESPN's First Take, and host and executive producer of Stephen A's world on ESPN Plus. Stephen A., thank you.
STEPHEN A. SMITH, HOST, ESPN: Yes.
LEMON: That man.
SMITH: Thank you.
LEMON: I love your outspokenness. Thank you for doing this. This bothers you. You said that LeBron can't have it both ways, that he either wants to be out front and center, bringing a voice to issues or he doesn't. Tell me why this is so important to you.
SMITH: Well, I think, that obviously, you having on your show a few months ago when I decided to take the vaccine. I had my reservations, there's a plethora of people within the African-American community that has had -- that have had our reservations about taking the vaccine.
But ultimately, you know, when you go into ICUs or what have you, you see things that have been so profoundly detrimental to the African- American community, you take a stand and you take a position. I'm not of the position that LeBron James normally under normal circumstances should feel any obligation whatsoever to divulge whether or not he is taking the vaccine.
But considering the multitude of issues that he has been willing to tackle, considering what provoked him to do so because of concerns for his community and his people, those are his words, these are the kinds of things that he has said time and time and time again. Then why would you not speak on the issue of being vaccinated or not? That's one talking about.
Of course, he's a private, you know, he's a citizen, he's entitled to his privacy. We all know that, and LeBron James is the ultimate role model. He is an incredible athlete, an incredible humanitarian as far as I'm concerned, one of the best people that we have ever seen in the world of sports.
But on this particular issue, his unwillingness to divulge where he stands and why he feels whatever it is that he feels, I'm going to say that it's flagrantly inconsistent with all of the positions that he has taken, and where he has used for taking those positions.
LEMON: Well, Stephen, I also, I mean, if you look at, I mean, look, if LeBron James sneezes, the fans want to know does he have a cold. Right?
SMITH: That's right.
LEMON: If he twists an ankle, if he has a sore shoulder, or, you know, if he does whatever, and so his health is of importance and interest to the legions of fans around the world.
[22:45:03]
But also, Stephen A., and I'm sure you've seen this, and I was in the barbershop the other day, it's been a little while, two weeks which is a long time. And these people are giving me all of these stories about, I have a cousin who works for this, and someone who works for a doctor, they give me all of this false information, and I'm sitting there in the chair going, you guys must be kidding me.
And I thought, I think, you know, the reasons that they're giving for not getting the vaccine, look, you do, you are a private citizen, you do what you want. But the information is false. There are Black doctors and scientists who worked on vaccine strategy and developing the vaccine. This is not --
SMITH: Sure.
LEMON: -- the Tuskegee experiments. We have moved beyond that.
SMITH: Right.
LEMON: Do you understand what I'm saying? LeBron has a huge influence with that.
SMITH: Absolutely, he does. he does. No question about it, and you know my story in terms of the CEO and president of virtual health systems in South Jersey, he was the one that call me and got on me and brought me down to South Jersey and showed me the inordinate amounts of African Americans that were being hospitalized who were in ICU units because of COVID-19, and how devastating of an effect it was having on the African-American community.
But then again, let's get back to LeBron James in terms of specifics. He was in the news and I had to speak on the issue today because LeBron James just a couple of days before his playoff game against the Phoenix Suns was at his agent's house, Rich Paul, in Beverly Hills.
The event was outdoors. The individuals that were in attendance were all tested, all of those safety protocols, and the safety measures were taken to ensure that there was no danger whatsoever, but the reality was an abundance of people didn't know that.
So, when you saw a picture of LeBron James at this event, you had fans all over the country talking about, wait a minute, there were NBA players that were sat down because they would put themselves in those compromising positions and as a result you never know what could happen. They could potentially contaminate a person without knowing, or all of this other stuff.
Again, that turned out not to be true. But that wasn't something that LeBron James enlightened us about. The NBA enlightened us about it.
LEMON: Let me read the statement.
SMITH: You know, other people in the NBA did that. But not LeBron James. Why would you not do that?
LEMON: Let me read you the statement and then I'll let you continue here. So, the statement says, to clarify any remaining misconception, LeBron James briefly attended an outdoor event last week where participants were required to be vaccinated or return a negative test result. Under current NBA rules vaccinated players are permitted to engage in outside activities including their individual --
SMITH: That is true.
SMITH: -- commercial arrangements, excuse me -- no, arrangements, I'm sorry, such as sponsors, appearances, or ad shoots. So, do you think the statement is implying his vaccine status here? His vaccination status? SMITH: I'm not going to say that, and not only that, I'm not going to
allow that to influence my thinking, because here's the deal, Don. We've seen LeBron James speak on a plethora of issues. Speak very educated wise, very intelligently about a plethora of issues. He is definitely more than capable of speaking for himself.
He's not just a smart dude, he is brilliant. Make no mistake about it. He is something special, and when you listen to him speak on the issues that he has spoken about its thought-provoking. He's obviously done as research, he knows what the hell he's talking about, et cetera, et cetera. And he is enlightened us about a lot of things he feels and how in tuned he is with what is going on, not just in our society as a whole, but throughout the world.
He is spoken on a multitude of issues on many occasions, he has not spoken about this. Well, numerous, despite numerous opportunities that he has had to do so. Obviously, that will raise an antenna and make you wonder why he insists are not speaking on such a thing at all particularly when he recognizes how it's ravaged our nation, how it's ravaged the world globally. And what kind of profound impact that this had on our communities.
That's why I said what I said, because optics matter, particularly when it comes to LeBron James. You put yourself in this position, you know that it's going to conjure up questions. And to give those weak answers that he gave the other day, when asked about it before at a playoff game against the Phoenix Suns, I just thought was beneath what we've come to know, appreciate, and fully expect from LeBron James. And then in that particular instance he was a flagrant disappointment.
LEMON: Stephen A., thank you. I can't really add much to that except for, I think he should talk to people, and he should be more forthcoming about how he feels about the vaccine, or at least promoting. I think he should -- I think he should actually get out there and promote people getting the vaccine. Because we really, really need it.
SMITH: Yes.
LEMON: People have died, Black people have been overly affected more so than any other ethnicity by this on the front lines and what have you by COVID-19. Thank you, Stephen A.
SMITH: I don't mind arguing, I don't mind arguing, but I can argue with that.
[22:50:00]
LEMON: I'll see you soon. Keep up the great work. Thank you.
SMITH: Thank you, Don. Thank you.
LEMON: It's one of New York City's biggest events, people come from all over the world. But now one group isn't allowed. The prime parade is banning, take this, come on pride parade. You got to get your act together. They are banning police -- don't do it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): You don't want to become what you fight against. You don't want to become what you fight against. So, take this. Organizers of the New York City Pride parade banning the New York Police Department from participating in the annual parade this year. And every year until at least 2025. Not good.
[22:55:03]
The group says a police presence at the Parade threatens members of the LGBTQ plus community and people of color. Saying, and I quote here, "the sense of safety that law enforcement is meant to revive can instead be threatening and at times dangerous to those in our community who are most often targeted with excessive force and or without reason."
A spokesman for the NYPD tells CNN this and I quote again. "The idea of officers being excluded is disheartening and runs counter to our shared values of inclusion and tolerance." The ban also disappointing to NYPD officers who are part of the LGBTQ community.
The group that represents them says the parade organizers are taking the low road. And I'm not going to gloss over the very complicated relationship between the LGBTQ community and police, especially in New York City going all the way back to stonewall. I understand that. Trust me. I'm a member of the LGBTQ community.
Remember the first Pride march has begun as a protest a year after the 1969 Salma riots when the NYPD raided the gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village at a time when police routinely harassed gay people in establishments. But now, OK -- this is 2021, people.
LGBTQ officers who want to make a difference for their communities are being banned from attending an event by their own community. If the end goal is inclusivity, and equality banning them from a Pride event is not anything to be proud of. Reconsider that. OK? We can do better than that.
Next, anti-Semitic hate crimes are surging. One Republican decides to compare masks to the Holocaust. Stay with us.
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