CNN's Don Lemon rips parents opposed to mask mandates, says some conspiracy theorists shouldn't have had kids

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Don Lemon mocks parents opposed to mask mandates

CNN's Don Lemon highlights conspiracy theorists opposed to masks and suggests they shouldn't have children.

CNN host Don Lemon on Wednesday tore into parents opposed to mask mandates in schools, mocking them for their beliefs and emotions over the controversial issue, and suggesting that some espousing conspiracy theories shouldn't have children. 

During a segment discussing the coronavirus, Lemon played two video clips of parents speaking out against the mandates in school board meetings across the country, including one where one man grows visibly angry and says such rules are against the "Nuremburg codes."

"Why so angry? It’s a mask," Lemon said after playing the video.

The second video involved a woman at a school board meeting in South Carolina, where she appeared to repeat a conspiracy theory that involved the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention turning schools into camps to isolate men, women and children from each other.

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"Just because you can have kids doesn’t mean you should. Yeah, I said it," Lemon said after the video. "And it would be funny if it weren’t for the fact that peoples lives are at stake. The misinformation, the lies, they’re killing us." 

Lemon decided to highlight conspiracy theorists opposed to masks, but parents across the country are also vocally against mandated face-coverings in schools. However, polling reveals a majority of parents support the mandates for the unvaccinated.

Lemon has been no stranger to calling for forced measures to tackle the coronavirus. In July he called for rules to be put into place in order to force people to get vaccinated, including not allowing unvaccinated people into offices, gyms or airplanes. 

Lemon claimed that earlier this month he might have beaten up an angry maskless man seen in a viral video on the New York City subway if he had been present. 

The oppositional approach to mask mandates by some Republican governors has earned them scorn and derision by the media and the Democratic Party, who argue their policies have prolonged the COVID-19 pandemic. President Joe Biden accused Abbott of "Neanderthal thinking" for lifting his mask mandate in March and he routinely battles DeSantis over his handling of the pandemic, telling him earlier this month to "get out of the way" of local mandates.

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But contrary to the CDC, many European and developed countries have decided against recommending masks for young children in schools or other public settings.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, an agency of the European Union, does not recommend masks for children 6 and under in any setting or for children 12 and under in a classroom setting. In the Republic of Ireland, children ages 13 and younger are only advised to wear a mask if they attend middle school. In Sweden, children have never been told to wear masks in school.

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A recent New York Magazine article also said the science behind masking students is uncertain.

Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.