CNN’s Don Lemon claims he might have beaten up angry maskless man on NYC subway: ‘Play lotto, don’t play me'
'I'm not kidding'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN host Don Lemon claimed Tuesday that he might have gotten physical had he been present when a maskless man went viral for berating a mask-wearing woman on a New York City subway.
Lemon and embattled colleague Chris Cuomo were discussing the viral video during their nightly handoff when the "Cuomo Prime Time" host said he was shocked nobody physically intervened.
In the clip, a woman says she hopes the maskless man is fined, to which he mocks and leans over her, chants "1776," says he believes in freedom, curses, and tells bystanders to back away from him. It's unclear what exactly began the bizarre encounter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN host Don Lemon said he always tells people, "Play lotto, don’t play me." (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
"I can’t believe in a New York City subway that that guy didn’t get tuned up," Cuomo said. "I’m glad he didn’t, I know that wouldn’t be the best of us."
Lemon then declared he would have if he were around.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Oh, he might of if I had been on there. I’m not kidding," Lemon said.
"I was getting ready for the Tobe Nwigwe song, ‘Try Jesus,’" Cuomo said, referring to a song with the lyric "Try Jesus, not me, 'cause I throw hands."
Lemon responded he "always" tells people a different version of the song.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Play lotto, don’t play me," Lemon said.
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"We’re in a bad place but … it’s going to be up to people like me and you, we have a platform, we can talk about it, we can try to move people in the right direction and give them the facts every night with passion and with love and grace," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuomo was captured on video in 2019 berating a man who called him "Fredo" and threatening to throw them down a flight of stairs.
Masks are required on public transit in New York and there is a fine given to anyone caught breaking the rule.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The conversation marked yet another strange CNN moment involving Cuomo, who was forced on Monday to address his involvement in his brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's sexual harassment scandal and his inability to cover it. The saga has hung over the network's head for nearly the entire year.