Don Lemon: ‘Had to get rid of’ friends who support Trump

CNN anchor Don Lemon on Thursday said that he “had to get rid of” friends supporting President Trump “because they’re too far gone,” adding that he would be friends with them again if “they want to live in reality.”

The commentary came during a handoff between anchor Chris Cuomo and Lemon.

“I had to get rid of them because they’re too far gone,” Lemon said to Cuomo of his Trump-supporting friends. “I try and I try and I try, they say something really stupid and then I’ll show them the science and I’ll give them the information, and they still repeat those talking points.

“I had to get rid of a lot of people in my life because sometimes you’ve just got to let them go. I think they have to hit rock bottom like an addict, right? And they have to want to get help, they have to want to know the truth, they have to want to live in reality, they have to want to be responsible not only for other people’s lives but for their lives.”

CNN’s @donlemon: “I have many people who I love in my life … There are a lot of friends I had to really get rid of because they are so non-sensical when it comes to [Trump]. If they’re willing to come back and willing to live in reality, then I will welcome them with open arms” pic.twitter.com/eLsVX1qAdD

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 30, 2020

The comments from Lemon, who is frequently critical of the president, come after he faced pushback earlier this year for laughing for an extended period of time after panelist Rick Wilson of The Lincoln Project dubbed Trump supporters the “credulous boomer rube demo.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s national lead in the RealClearPolitics index of polls is 7.2 points as of Friday morning, and the race in key battleground states is 3.2 points.