According to CNN This Morning’s Don Lemon, if you google “When is a woman in her prime?” you will find that the answer is “in her 20s, 30s, and maybe 40s.”
The journalist has faced serious backlash after saying that “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime.” Lemon made the comments in relation to the GOP presidential candidate saying that politicians over 75 should take “mandatory mental competency tests.”
Let’s take a closer look at Don Lemon’s “women’s prime” comments.
Don Lemon says Nikki Haley ‘isn’t in her prime’
On Thursday, February 17, Don Lemon made the inflammatory comments on CNN’s new morning show, alongside co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.
Speaking on Haley’s mandatory competency test proposal he said: “I think it is the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry — when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
His female co-hosts then questioned him about whether he meant “the childbearing years,” or “prime for being president.” Flustered, he clarified that he didn’t personally agree, “I’m just saying what the facts are,” he said.
Lemon added: “Google It. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s, and 40s.” As of February 2023, Google’s search results to the question are inconclusive.
Later that day, Lemon took to Twitter to address the situation. He started: “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it.”
“A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day,” Lemon said.
Since sparking outrage with his comments, Don Lemon has been absent from CNN This Morning. “Don has the day off,” Collins told viewers.
Who is Don Lemon?
Don Lemon is an American journalist and TV news anchor, who started his career working for various news stations across Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.
Best known for hosting Don Lemon Tonight, he left the primetime show last year to serve as one of three hosts of CNN’s new morning show. The 56-year-old hails from Baton Rouge, Louisana.
