Don Lemon on Trump banning CNN: ‘It’s their own fault’

Pundit Don Lemon suggested CNN was at fault for President Trump banning the network and two other media outlets from the White House last week.

“It’s their own fault,” Lemon said of the network that fired him in 2023. “They sort of ushered this in by bending the knee and putting on MAGA folks.”

Lemon suggested recent efforts by CNN’s editorial leadership to put forth a more politically diverse set of viewpoints in its commentary and analysis was an attempt to appease the administration.

“For Donald Trump, there is no loyalty. Just because you do something for him … that doesn’t mean he’s going to be nice to you,” Lemon said. “He’s going to kick you out of the White House right along with everyone else who doesn’t write favorable things about him no matter how much you kiss his a–.”

Trump has long railed against CNN, and on Friday, included it in a list of three media outlets banned from the White House over publishing of “fake news.”

The trio filed a lawsuit Monday over the ban, saying it violates their First Amendment rights to report on the president, while the administration argues their reporting puts national security in danger.

Lemon, a longtime figure in cable news, has since started his own media company and online show since being fired by the network in 2023.

A frequent critic of the president and conservatives, Lemon was recently hit with a felony indictment by the Trump administration, charging the former CNN anchor with federal civil rights and conspiracy crimes in connection with his reporting on an anti-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest at a Minnesota church.