Don Lemon was taken to task Monday on Twitter after he held up a sign displaying the N-word uncensored on “CNN Tonight.”
The cable news anchor opened his show in the most direct — and many think offensive — way possible by addressing the racial outcry following the shooting deaths of nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, last week.
“This is what America is talking about right now,” Lemon said, while holding up a Confederate flag. “Does this offend you? It is a Confederate flag. Is it a symbol of Southern pride or a symbol of hate?”
He then proceeded to hold up a sign saying the N-word — spelled out fully — and asked: “What about this… does this offend you? President Obama said it out loud in an interview and a lot of people are shocked.”
The reaction to Lemon’s behavior was swift. The CNN host immediately became a trending topic on Twitter and the response was overwhelmingly negative.
Read a sampling of the reaction below.
https://twitter.com/DebsWorldNY/status/613198893740900352
smh CNN got don lemon out here looking like a supreme coon
— Willtothe (@Willtothe) June 23, 2015
https://twitter.com/coffee_liz/status/613195206649888768
It’s clear that CNN has become more interested in the controversy Don Lemon garners than in his integrity as a news man.
— Amanda Seales ??✊? △⃒⃘ (@amandaseales) June 23, 2015
Don Lemon is the Walter Cronkite of trolling.
— Jas Waters (@JasFly) June 23, 2015
https://twitter.com/smapd/status/613196610143522821
What the damn hell, Don Lemon? I can't even.
— Dr. Margie Housley (@margiehousley) June 23, 2015
@DonLemon 's pathological need for attention no matter the cost offends me. #TakeDownThatAnchor
— Annie (@CurlynDoris) June 23, 2015
https://twitter.com/SlimFast_/status/613205907573346304
Don Lemon is the type of house negro who would tell the slave owner that field negroes were planning a revolt.
— Abbas (@Abbas_Muntaqim) June 23, 2015
https://twitter.com/brownlashon/status/613195988044419072
https://twitter.com/greghoward88/status/613184868621619200