don lemon

Conservative Hollywood media mogul slams Trump's 'dictator-like' move

The recent arrest of journalist Don Lemon has set off alarm bells within the media world – including from one prominent media executive with ties to President Donald Trump.

In a Friday segment on his gossip site TMZ, founder Harvey Levin lamented the Trump administration's indictment of Lemon – a former CNN anchor — and suggested Trump was taking a page from the authoritarian playbook.

"So the Trump administration wonders why people are saying that they are trying to form a dictatorship. Well, look at the landscape – arresting Don Lemon, who covered a protest in Minneapolis, is just insane, ridiculous, dictator-like," Levin said. "This is the playbook that dictators use to destroy democracies and take the will of the people away. It is as simple as that."

Levin asserted that arresting Lemon was the administration sending the message that it viewed the free press as hostile, which Levin said was a threat to democracy. He went on to argue that the administration's argument that Lemon was impeding the expression of religious rights by covering a protest in a church was "stupid."

"A church invites everybody in. Have you ever seen a church with a no trespassing sign saying no journalists allowed? Have you ever seen any house of worship that says that?" Levin said. "It is insane, insane, that they’re making this stupid argument transparent."

Levin – whose staff has previously called out his ties to Trump as "gross" — said the Trump administration "should be ashamed of itself" for its "ridiculous assault on democracy."

"They will continue to do this. And they are going after journalists. They’re getting search warrants for their homes," he said. "It is obvious what’s happening in this country, people. Look at what is happening. You’re gonna look back in two years, if somebody doesn’t stand up to them, and I know people are now, but you’re gonna back in to years and say, ‘Wow, we didn’t see that coming!’"

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'As weak as it gets': Attorneys laugh at Trump DOJ's indictment of Don Lemon

The indictment of journalist Don Lemon was recently unsealed, and many legal experts are largely in agreement that the charging document is flimsy at best.

On Friday, CNN host Jake Tapper posted the unsealed 12-page indictment of his former colleague to his official X account. Lemon has been charged with one count of conspiracy against right of religious freedom at place of worship and one count of impeding access to the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship. The charges stem from Lemon documenting a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota where one of the pastors is reportedly in a leadership position within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The indictment was immediately met with mockery by various attorneys, journalists and legal commentators. New York Times Justice Department correspondent Glenn Thrush observed that one of the allegations against Lemon "is that he and [a] protester -- 2 people -- 'largely surrounded' the pastor, and then Lemon asked the pastor 'questions.'" Washington D.C. based attorney John Aravosis wrote on social media that the indictment "basically accuses [Lemon] of journalism."

"He asked the pastor and congregants questions. Yeah, that’s literally journalism," Aravosis wrote. "There’s no proof, or even substantive allegation, of Lemon partaking in any conspiracy. They’re claiming that his presence is proof that he conspired with them. And that’s not true. It’s proof of journalism."

"If this is the case against Don Lemon, it's about as weak as it gets," tweeted criminal defense attorney Scott Greenfield.

"[A]s far as I can tell, the 'crime' that Lemon is being charged with is knowing that this group was about to go protest and not telling anyone on his livestream where they were going?" Attorney Randy Herman asked his Bluesky followers.

"I give it eight weeks for the indictment of Don Lemon to be thrown out," attorney Bradley P. Moss wrote on Bluesky.

"This is one of the shakiest indictments ever," podcaster Vince Wilson wrote on X. "All I see from this is a journalist doing what journalists do."

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Don Lemon Reveals Trump Called Him 'Racist' for the Most Absurd Reason

CNN anchor Don Lemon has been a frequent target of Donald Trump's puffy wrath of late. Discussing the attacks on-air with his other CNN anchors, Lemon revealed that Trump's antipathy toward him has been both long-lasting and pointedly race-based; after a 2011 interview in which Trump was asked to defend his crackpot claims that President Barack Obama was not actually an American citizen, Trump fumed at him for the pointed questions.

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CNN's Don Lemon Shuts Down ex-Trump Aide Live On Air

In a Thursday panel discussion about the Fox News spin protecting President Donald Trump, CNN host Don Lemon called out Sean Hannity for coordinating with Trump in a "feedback loop."

Lemon began playing a clip of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who compared FBI agents and special counsel Robert Mueller to the Nazi Gestapo and Joseph Stalin.

Media commentator Brian Stelter said that it is very clear that Hannity is coordinating with the White House since they're all using the same phrasing. He noted Hannity and Trump speak frequently and Hannity has been known to dine at the White House and join the president at Mar-a-Lago.

"The president props up an alternative reality where he's winning, his enemies are losing, where Mueller's corrupt, and where this investigation needs to be disbanded," Stelter said. "That's the alternative universe, that parts of Fox, the National Enquirer, which has been in the news, Sinclair commentators, right-wing media outlets prop up this alternative universe. And, look, that's fine in some ways. I love reading fiction novels. What they are promoting is a version of fiction and it does a disservice to their viewers to claim that it is facts."

Lemon asked Trump's former communications director Jason Miller whether it was "appropriate" to allow a cable news show to bash the special counsel. Miller pivoted to say that Hannity and Trump can do whatever they want because it is their Constitutional right to do so. Lemon corrected him asking if it was "appropriate." Miller ultimately refused to answer the question.

"You didn't answer my question," Lemon said. For that he decided to move on to former campaign staffer to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Amanda Carpenter. "Amanda, Mueller is a war hero, how can Newt Gingrich compare him to Stalin?"

"At once I thought Newt Gingrich to be a student of history, but these seem like pretty reckless comparison comparisons," Carpenter said. "I mean, here's my question, OK: the Trump people, they don't like [Jeff] Sessions, they don't like Mueller, they don't like [Rod] Rosenstein, so who do they like? They apparently like lawyers like Joe diGenova. What also makes reckless statements and I believe compared the Mueller probe to a form of regicide which is, by definition, the killing of a king. So, you can see where their head is at. And so they're on this campaign to discredit pretty much anyone who doesn't consider Donald Trump a king because I don't know where else this goes."

The second half of the discussion got even more heated as Lemon went up against Miller, who parroted the Trump talking points about "witch hunts" and the investigation taking too long.

"You're proving my point," Lemon said. "That's what they're being fed from Fox and from the White House."

In a shouting match, Lemon noted that the Benghazi investigation went on for two and a half years with seven different hearings by Republicans, where the Mueller investigation has been going on for less than a year.

"I did not hear one conservative saying, 'It is time to bring this to an end, it's going on too long,'" Lemon said.

Miller explained that the reason it was happening now is that Trump is winning so much. The discussion devolved into chaos from there until Lemon simply had to shut it down.

"Jason, I can't -- please, be respectful," Lemon said. "When you come on and give this information and other Trump supporters and give disinformation I spend most of my time trying to debunk falsities and lies instead of educating the American people. it's frustrating every single night. You talk about no collusion. You don't even know the original focus of the Russia investigation. You're feeding talking points that aren't true to the American people. If you're going to be on this platform respect the American people. It is a privilege to come here. Don't come on CNN and lie or deflect about what's going on. Come here and be honest with the American people. It is a privilege to come on here. It is not a right."

Watch the full discussion below:

Part 1:Part 2:

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