CNN’s Don Lemon defended broadcasting rival Tucker Carlson’s right to “personal space” after a viral video of the Fox News host showed him being verbally accosted by a man inside a Montana fly fishing shop.
The Louisiana-born anchor sided with Carlson on his CNN program “Don Lemon Tonight” on Monday, and acknowledged during the segment that he was fully aware of the awkwardness of his position.
“I never thought I’d be in the position to maybe somehow have to defend Tucker Carlson,” he said.
In an Instagram post from over the weekend that prompted Lemon’s frustration, a provocateur named Dan Bailey can be seen standing up to the Fox News star host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” with various lures and fishing goods around them.
While pointing at him, Bailey can be heard saying, “You are the worst human being known to mankind.
“I want you to know that.”
He blames Carlson for using his powerful mouthpiece to killing people by spreading vaccine misinformation and endorsing “extreme racism.”
“My daughter’s here,” Carlson informs Bailey.
But the man persisted to let Carlson he didn’t care and gave him a full dose of his opinion as another person in the shop trained the camera on them.
Carlson softly tells the man, “I appreciate that,” before noticing he was being recorded and grinned before attempting to walk away.
“Settle down, son,” Carlson can be heard telling the man as he paces off.
But an infuriated Bailey responds: “Son? Don’t call me son!”
Bailey trails the TV host before the 22-second video stops.
“It’s not every day[sic] you get to tell someone they are the worst person in the world and really mean it!” a boasting Bailey wrote in an Instagram post of his video, which appears to have been scrubbed. “What an a**hole!”
A statement posted on the shop’s website recounted how a local resident bearing the same name of the founder – who died in 1982 – has “no affiliation with our business.”
Meanwhile, Fox News was quick to lend support behind the star television news commentator.
“Ambushing Tucker Carlson while he is in a store with his family is totally inexcusable,” Fox wrote in a statement, according to The Hill.
“No public figure should be accosted regardless of their political persuasion or beliefs simply due to the intolerance of another point of view.”
The View’s Meghan McCain called Bailey a “jack***” for getting in Carlson’s face and feared more folks might mimic the same disrespect.
“As incendiary as many people find Tucker Carlson, they find the women on this show equally incendiary, for different reasons,” McCain said.
“So if it’s OK and to be expected, maybe there’s an expectation that wherever we go, it’s OK for people to come up to us and scream things and say things.”
Lemon condemned the public attempt to embarrass and put Carlson against the ropes.
“Let me tell you this: I don’t like it. I don’t like it when people do that because I would not want it to happen to me,” Lemon said during his show.
He then admitted: “I have mixed emotions because Tucker has done this to people before.
“Tucker said some really nasty and silly things about me, and the next day there’s paparazzi in front of my house, hiding, taking pictures.”
But Lemon said that Bailey’s attempt to tee off on Carlson went beyond the pale.
“We’re all on TV, we’ve been approached,” Lemon said on his show which included CNN commentator Ana Navarro defending Bailey’s actions..
“We hear good things, we hear bad things from people. We don’t even know who they are, it’s part of the gig.
“Don’t you think this went a little too far, though?”
“Deal with it,” Navarro said, adding that not only does Bailey have a First Amendment right to approach whoever he wants, but Carlson’s insightful rhetoric made him open to such criticisms.
Lemon disagreed.
“But I don’t think that should happen to you, Ana,” he said.
“I don’t think that should happen to [CNN anchor] Chris [Cuomo].
“I don’t think it should happen to me.”
In fact, he believes Bailey’s stunt was done in bad taste.
“Your First Amendment right doesn’t mean invading my personal space, I’m sorry, Ana, I understand what you’re saying and I get it.
“I think that what Tucker says much, much of the time is completely reprehensible and divorced from reality, but he has a right to be in a space and not be accosted and not be ambushed by anyone.”
Lemon also mentioned how he’s faced his own hecklers, but he feels there’s an amount of personal space that has to be respected.
“People yell all the time at me,” Lemon noted.
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He brought up a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio where he recalled how “Trump supporters out there yelling across whatever.
“They weren’t in my face. So if you want to stand across the street, fine.”
He said that when he’s facing someone’s discontent with him or his show – he tries to keep it civil.
“‘Thank you, thank you for watching. I’m so glad. Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you’ – even if they say the worst things about me, because I really just want to defuse it and I want them to go away.”
