CNN’s evening hosts Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon debated and disagreed on the idea of Democrats fighting back against President Trump during a brief exchange at end of Cuomo’s show and the beginning of Lemon’s Thursday night.
Their conversation began by discussing former Attorney General Eric Holder’s clarifying remarks regarding comments he made earlier this week saying Democrats should “kick” Republicans. They also referenced former first lady Michelle Obama’s condemnation of Holder’s comments.
WATCH:
“Yeah, you got to fight fire with fire,” Lemon started. “And I think that in this climate, if you’re going to fight against Trump — listen, it doesn’t matter if he’s in the White House or whomever, but if you’re a Democrat and you’re going up against Trump, you’ve got to be a fighter, or he’s just going to roll over you.”
Cuomo fought back, saying:
Yeah, look I get it — I just don’t buy it. You know how I feel about this. When it comes to politics, fight fire with fire, no I think you fight fires with water. You know that’s what puts fire out. And I think that when they’re coming at you, just as it happens on my show all the time — when somebody is coming at me hot, I see it as weakness, I see insults as them not having anything to offer. And I’ll tell you what, people get tired of ugly and nasty. They do.
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Lemon responded:
Chris, that is so five years ago. I’m sorry. That doesn’t work now. And yeah you can fight fire with fire. Don’t you see how they do it when they have wildfires? They use fire to fight fire. I’m just saying, that whole thing about they go low, we go high, I love the former first lady, I love all the first ladies, but I think Democrats have learned that in this last election by being nice, playing by the rules — I’m not saying that’s why they lost, but that’s not why they lost.
“But I’m saying, that’s not why they lost. Don’t be what you disrespect,” Cuomo warned.
Lemon shot back, “I don’t think anybody’s saying that.”
“That’s what it sounds like to me,” Cuomo added.
Lemon made headlines earlier on Thursday as well. When discussing Kanye West’s meeting with Trump, he said that West’s dead mother was “rolling in her grave.”
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