CNN’s Don Lemon, frustrated by the blockage of the Freedom to Vote Act on Wednesday, tore into Democrats and President Joe Biden during his primetime show. Biden’s media strategy was of particular concern to the longtime host, who said it’s not the news media’s job to “sell” the president’s agenda.
“If you stop holding events at 2:00 in the afternoon, when people are at work or in traffic, and start holding them when people are actually at home and watching and paying attention, then maybe you may be able to change the narrative,” said Lemon of Biden’s daytime press events.
He continued, “It’s our job to discuss what you are doing and yes, part of what’s in it, but it’s not our job to sell your agenda for you. They are not selling their agenda and the only reason that I am so enthusiastic about this is because our democracy is on the line and I don’t want America to lose its democracy. I don’t want America to be a country of minority rule and I don’t want America to be a place where Black and brown people like me, whose ancestors fought and died for the right to vote, are restricted from going to the voting booth. That is the most un-American thing to do.”
Lemon concluded by telling Democrats to “get [their] butts in gear and get passionate about saving this damn country.”
He repeatedly called Democratic lawmakers “weak.”
Senate Republicans blocked the Freedom to Vote Act, but they did so by using the filibuster, which many Democrats have said they want to see abolished. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and others have remained opposed to abolishing it, leaving the possibility of a blockage such as Wednesday’s open.