Ben Shapiro to Don Lemon: Stop 'clinging to the notion' that you're an 'objective journalist'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro slammed CNN anchor Don Lemon's apology after Lemon faced heavy backlash for mocking President Trump and his supporters during a panel segment this past weekend.
"Don Lemon should just own it," Shapiro said Thursday on "The Ben Shapiro Show." "The fact that Don Lemon clings to this ridiculous notion that he is some sort of objective journalist is absolute silliness."
On Wednesday night, Lemon addressed the viral clip that showed him doubled over in laughter after Republican political consultant Rick Wilson made fun of President Trump and his supporters, calling them "boomer rubes."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN'S VIRAL VIDEO MOCKING TRUMP SUPPORTERS RACKS UP MILLIONS MORE VIEWERS THAN ORIGINAL AIRING
"This is personally important for me to address this, OK? Ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you- I don't believe in belittling people, belittling anyone for who they are, what they believe, or where they're from," Lemon said towards the top of his show. "During an interview on Saturday night, one of my guests said something that made me laugh. And while in the moment, I found that joke humorous. And I didn't catch everything that was said."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The anti-Trump anchor added, "Just to make it perfectly clear, I was laughing at the joke and not at any group of people."
Shapiro mocked Lemon's apology and said the incident represents a much larger issue concerning the mainstream media.
"But the joke was about a group of people so you're going to have to explain that one," Shapiro said.
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"This is the problem for places like CNN...," he continued. "The utter blind spot that the media have to their own incompetence and what they do every day is truly amazing and truly horrifying and it's one of the reasons that the American people do not believe that the media stand for them. They believe that the media stand for the media ... the clicks ... the money."
"The mainstream media prove every day why we shouldn't trust them when it comes to analysis of ongoing issues."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.