Don Lemon blasts Haley for Civil War response, says she wants grace and he wasn't offered the same

WASHINGTON — Former CNN anchor Don Lemon blasted former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for wanting grace after she failed to mention slavery as a cause of the Civil War, saying he wasn’t offered the same grace when he took a jab at her in February.

“Nikki Haley wants grace for using a poor choice of words when, after I misspoke in some comments involving her, she didn’t offer me that same grace, immediately and very publicly took me to task, and then fundraised off of it,” Lemon wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Lemon, who was an anchor of “CNN This Morning,” made his controversial remarks while discussing a Haley speech calling for “mental competency tests” for politicians over 75.

“She says people, politicians are not in their prime," he told co hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. "Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s."

Following the broadcast, Haley sent a fundraising email to her supporters calling Lemon a “CNN liberal” and included a link of his exchange. He was widely criticized and later apologized on X, calling his remarks “inartful and irrelevant.”

Lemon’s jab comes after a voter asked Haley what caused the Civil War during a New Hampshire town hall Wednesday, and she said it was about how the government should be run. She didn’t mention slavery in her response.

Haley has since walked back her comments on the Civil War, saying in an interview Thursday that, “Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That's the easy part." She also reiterated those comments in a New Hampshire town hall later that day.

“I’m glad she clarified what she should have said. And, In the spirit of the season, let’s see if her actions match her corrected words moving forward,” Lemon wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Don Lemon blasts Haley for Civil War response