Divisive ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon says he's considering running for PRESIDENT in 2028 49%
By Alex Hammer53%
7/17/2026, 5:42:30 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 25 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Framing Effect, and False Dilemma, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 16.5% saturation with 163 hits. Analysis detected 934 faulty-reasoning hits from 985 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 49.7% and a BS Rank of 49% (9,093 of 17,611 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 51.60% of the article peer group.
Don Lemon raised eyebrows this week after saying he's 'totally serious' about a 2028 presidential run.
'I actually think I would be a really good president of the United States,' a stone-faced Lemon said in a poolside interview released Wednesday.
The former CNN star sat with Can't Be Censored's Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong outside his home in Sag Harbor.
About five minutes in, Wong mentioned Lemon's 2023 exit from CNN.
'You can say fired,' Lemon laughed.
Wong had just pointed out that Tucker Carlson was cut from Fox News on the same day.
'You, Tucker, and Travis are all now building your own independent media empires,' Wong went on, mentioning her cohost.
'And all three of you have been rumored to, fairly or unfairly, to have some sort of political ambition.'
Dhanraj - a former CBC host - prodded Lemon for the truth.
Lemon answered: 'No, but people keep asking me if I'm running for president.
And I don't know, I might.
I'm serious.
I don't know.
I might, because people keep asking me to do it.'
'I actually think I would be a really good president of the United States,' Don Lemon said in a filmed interview released Wednesday
'Or if I'm going to do it.'
Lemon admitted the thought was enticing, because, in his eyes, the competition would be mostly thin.
'It seems in this day and age you don't have to have a ton of political experience,' he added, pointing to 'our current president.'
'And that's very obvious,' Lemon continued.
The longtime CNN host pondered whether the president would have 'done a better job' if he 'would actually listen to people.'
'But he doesn't.
He thinks he knows everything.'
Lemon then blurted out his belief that he would fare better.
Dhanraj outright stopped the conversation to ask if Lemon was 'being serious.'
'I'm being totally serious,' Lemon said.
The former CNN star sat poolside with Can't Be Censored's Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong outside his $3million home in Sag Harbor
He aired a vision of a 'citizen-driven' campaign.
'I would like to run it - and I don't know if this is realistic or not - without having to beg for money.
'Maybe at some point, I might have to take a donation,' he added.
'I would rather not do that.
'But I would rather the people of the United States to say, "That’s the guy that we want.
"I’m going to give him $5 or $10 or something that doesn’t break the bank," because I know that the economy is tough.'
Lemon - one of the first openly gay black TV anchors - concluded the current president is 'not doing a great job for the working-class.'
Lemon shelled out $3.1 million for the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home he shares with his husband, Tim Malone, in 2016.
At the time, the then-anchor was at the height of his CNN success.
A series of controversies followed, starting with a 2019 assault lawsuit filed against Lemon by Hampton bartender Dustin Hice that was later dropped.
Dhanraj - a former CBC host - appeared struck by Lemon's confidence
The suit centered around an alleged July 2018 incident, in which Lemon was accused of physically and verbally accosting Hice during a night out.
A December 2021 decision found that Hice offered contradictory testimony during an earlier deposition and that he destroyed text messages, deleted social media posts, and his Twitter account just a week before the suit was filed.
In a statement sent out via his attorney at the time, Hice said: 'After a lot of inner reflection and a deep dive into my memory, I have come to realize that my recollection of the events that occurred on the night in question when I first met CNN anchor Don Lemon were not what I thought they were when I filed this lawsuit.
'As a result, I am dropping the case.'
The following year, Lemon made headlines for a CNN This Morning segment on women's soccer, in which he said that men's soccer is 'more interesting to watch.'
Poppy Harlow - Lemon's cohost at the time - instantly bristled on-air, saying she had 'a big issue' with the statement.
A few weeks later, during the February 16, 2023, edition of the show, Lemon said women over the age of 40 were past their prime.
'Nikki Haley isn't in her prime.
Sorry, when a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,' he told co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins at the time.
Lemon - seen here leaving his arraignment with husband Tim Malone - has since gone independent.
He was with CNN for 17 years
Harlow again challenged Lemon, asking him to clarify: 'Are you talking about prime for childbearing or are you talking about prime for being president?'
'Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are,' Lemon shot back.
Then-CEO Chris Licht sent out a memo two months later announcing the anchor's exit, framing it as the two parties parting ways.
Lemon announced on X that he had been 'terminated' and that the move had left him 'stunned.'
In the years since, he's gone independent, hosting The Don Lemon Show on both YouTube and Substack.
He pleaded not guilty in February to federal charges related to an anti-immigration protest he filmed in St.
Paul, Minnesota, in January, where hundreds of ICE agents were then deployed.
Lemon maintained he was only doing his job as a journalist by recording the procession.
He has framed the ongoing federal civil rights suit as an attack on his First Amendment rights.
A Minnesota Grand Jury indicted Lemon and several protestors on charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers congregated at the church.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Lemon and Malone for comment.
Analysis
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