Don Lemon Discusses His Own Childhood Sexual Assault While Condemning Republicans' Support of Roy Moore

CNN anchor Don Lemon pressed Republican Ed Martin over his support for Alabama Senate canditate Roy Moore and brought up his own history of being sexually assaulted as a child during the discussion.

Martin tried to cast doubt on the allegations of the numerous women accusing Moore of sexual assault, while trying to claim he wasn't suggesting only Moore's denial should be believed. 

Lemon cut in to explain that Martin was effectively saying the women shouldn't be believed. Then he referenced his own life story in support of the women's testimony.

“[H]ere’s why this upsets me,” Lemon said. “And this is no secret—except to new people who are watching—that I was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. And no one, no matter how old you are, wants to come out and admit that publicly. It is just not something that is done, especially when you’re talking about something that happens at that young an age.”

“And that is what’s so upsetting to so many people,” Lemon continued. “And here you are sitting here on CNN twisting yourself in a a pretzel to try to defend something that is indefensible. Not one person wants to come out and say that, not two, not three, not four, not five, certainly not 12 women.”

Watch the full segment below.