Don Lemon praises Air Force general for lecture on diversity

CNN anchor Don Lemon on Friday praised the U.S. Air Force Academy superintendent who delivered a stern lecture on diversity to cadets this week, saying he offered leadership where President Trump has not.

“I couldn’t turn away from the general’s words – no one should,” Leon said on “CNN Tonight.” “They are a stark reminder of everything our president is not saying. The general knows there aren’t many sides to racism. He knows people who protest inequality are not ‘sons of b—–es.'”

“The president should be ashamed of himself for dividing America when he could be bringing us together; dragging the country down instead of lifting us up,” he added. “We need a leader, and that general – that speech – that’s what a leader sounds like. That’s what a leader looks like.”

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Air Force Lt. General Jay Silveria, the top administrator at the Air Force Academy, entered the spotlight this week after video surfaced of him delivering a speech on diversity and respect to cadets in response to racial slurs that appeared on message boards at the academy’s preparatory school.

In the lecture, Silveria said that cadets who could not commit to treating others with dignity and respect should “get out” of the academy.

“If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out,” he said. “If you can’t treat someone from another gender, whether that’s a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.”

“If you demean someone in any way, then you need to get out. And if you can’t treat someone from another race or a different color skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.”

Lemon’s comments on Friday came a week after Trump blasted NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality.