CNN’s Don Lemon appeared to diss Jon Stewart during a hot-mic moment — saying the former “Daily Show” host has more “leeway” as a comedian following Stewart’s tense exchange with a Pentagon official.During a segment on “CNN This Morning” Monday, a clip was played of Stewart, 60, interviewing US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks about the military’s inability to take care of service members despite its $850 billion budget.“If I give you a billion dollars, and you can’t tell me what happened to it? That to me is wasteful. That means you are not responsible,” he told Hicks. “But if you can’t tell me where it went, then what am I supposed to think?“We got out of 20 years of war and the Pentagon got a $50 billion raise. Like that’s shocking to me now,” Stewart continued.“I may not understand exactly the ins and outs and the incredible magic of an audit, but I’m a human being who lives on the Earth and can’t figure out how $850 billion to a department means that the rank and file still have to be on food stamps.“Like to me, that’s corruption,” Stewart seethed.When the clip ended, Lemon, 57, appeared to take a shot at Stewart.“He gets a lot of leeway with the comedian thing, though,” the embattled host was heard saying.The comment was followed by a few seconds of awkward silence, making it appear that Lemon believed he was speaking to his co-anchors off-air.Lemon then appeared to try to frantically backtrack.“We’re just discussing that Jon Stewart is so much more than a comedian — he’s a thought leader,” he interjected.Co-host Poppy Harlow chimed in, saying that Stewart “has stood up for so long for veterans’ rights and fought so loud and so hard and uses this big platform to keep doing so well.”Lemon then continued his cleanup effort.“We were saying when I said comedian and television host, he’s so much more than that. I don’t even know if you need to qualify. Jon Stewart is that but good interview there,” he said.This is just the latest controversy for the embattled CNN anchor, who most recently was accused of misogynistic behavior toward multiple female colleagues in a damning Variety exposé.Lemon is reportedly weighing a possible lawsuit against Variety over the report.In February, the host also got into an on-air argument with Harlow, who bristled at his contention that Nikki Haley, the 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate, was “not in her prime.”The remark sparked widespread condemnation, forcing Lemon to apologize. He was required to undergo sensitivity training before being allowed back on the air after three days.
© 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc.