Elon Musk slammed former CNN host Don Lemon over race and gender politics in an interview released Monday as the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show.”
Musk chose to cancel his partnership with Lemon’s show Wednesday after the fired CNN anchor conducted the interview with the tech mogul that “changed” their “relationship.” Lemon opted to release the interview, during which he sparred with Musk about identity politics.
Lemon told Musk that the term “woke” originally meant “being aware of inequities in society and being aware of facts and history,” which the tech mogul agreed was “fine.” However, Musk pushed back by saying that “trying to make everything a race issue” is “corrosive to society.”
When Lemon evoked slavery, Musk said that Americans should “look to the future rather than the past.” The tech mogul said, “We are all descended from slaves,” stating that everyone should be treated “according to just who they are as an individual.”
“What future do we want? Is this something we want to make, fight about, constant dialogue forever?” Musk asked. “Or do we wanna, do we wanna say, let’s just move on and treat everyone, you know, according to just who they are as an individual.”
“I agree with you on that. That’s the ideal. But what the evidence shows is that that’s not what’s actually in practice,” Lemon said.
“I think we’re doing better than anywhere else,” Musk replied.
“That’s true, I agree with that,” Lemon said. “But that doesn’t mean anything, that doesn’t mean a lot to a whole lot of people who aren’t able to take advantage of the opportunities that you were able to take advantage of just because of the color of your skin,” Lemon said.
Musk said that some people use race and gender to be “self-described victims,” prompting a lecture from Lemon about how “insulting” it is to “ignore the past.” (RELATED: Joe Scarborough Deletes Trump ‘Bloodbath’ Post After Reply From Elon Musk)
“I’ve also been discriminated against, and I know that I have. And I know that that’s real. And for someone to say that that isn’t happening and I should not, I should just move forward and not think about that and ignore the past is insulting,” Lemon said.
“I’m not saying — Don, you keep putting words in my mouth,” Musk responded. “ I’m not saying, I’m saying that we want to. We as a country should move beyond questions of race and gender. And we should treat people like individuals and base our opinions on the, you know, their character and their skills.”