Don Lemon Absent from CNN Show amid Fallout from Comments on Nikki Haley

CNN chairman Chris Licht said Friday that he was “disappointed” by Don Lemon’s recent comment that 51-year-old Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime.”

“His remarks were upsetting, unacceptable and unfair to his co-hosts, and ultimately a huge distraction to the great work of this organization,” Licht said during his daily editorial call, according to the New York Times.

Haley announced her 2024 presidential bid this week and suggested politicians over 75 years old should be required to pass mental competency tests.

Amid a discussion of Haley’s comments on Thursday, Lemon suggested Haley herself isn’t in her prime: “A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”

Co-anchor Poppy Harlow immediately pushed back on the comments saying, “What are you talking … wait … are you talking about ‘prime’ for child bearing? Or are you talking about ‘prime’ for being president?”

Lemon spoke over Harlow to say, “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it.”

An hour later, CNN correspondent Audie Cornish appeared on the show and told Lemon that “the idea of ‘prime’ that you Google on the internet” relates to “sexual and reproductive prime.” Lemon defended his earlier comments, saying he was reacting to Haley’s own critique of older politicians.

Lemon offered an apology on Twitter later on Thursday: “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”

Haley responded to the apology in a tweet of her own. “To be clear, I am NOT calling for competency tests for Sexist middle-aged CNN anchors; only for people who make our laws and are 75+,” she quipped.

Lemon was notably absent from the CNN morning show he co-anchors on Friday. “Don has the day off,” co-anchor Kaitlan Collins said at the start of the broadcast, without further explanation. 

Lemon also apologized to coworkers on Friday, according to the New York Post.

“The people I am closest to in this organization are women,” Lemon reportedly said. “The people I seek counsel to first in this organization are women. The person I am closest to is my mother, a woman.”

Lemon’s comments appeared to further inflame existing tensions on the show. Harlow walked off set Thursday when the show broke for commercial shortly after the exchange. The New York Post reported in December that Lemon previously loudly confronted Collins in front of other staff, telling her she was interrupting him too often on-air.

More from National Review

• Leftist Pundits Immediately Resort to Attacks on Nikki Haley’s Heritage

• CNN Airs Secretly Recorded Tape of First Lady Lashing Out at Child Separation Critics

• Dozens of Examples Offer an Answer to the ‘What If Rittenhouse Was Black?’ Hypothetical