After Don Lemon’s sexist comments about Nikki Haley, the news anchor was put on leave from CNN. According to an email sent by the network’s chief executive, Chris Licht, Lemon was given “formal training” before he returned to air in February 2023. “I believe that women of any age … can do whatever they set their minds to,” Lemon reportedly said while apologizing to CNN staffers. He returned to air later that month, but the feud with Haley was not buried.
Haley came under fire on December 27, 2023, while during a Q&A, she was asked about the causes of the Civil War. The former governor delivered a lengthy response but omitted to mention slavery as a root cause of the historic war, instead focusing on “freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.” Amid backlash, Haley attempted to clarify her comments. “I mean, of course, the Civil War was about slavery,” she told a small crowd the following day.
Naturally, Lemon caught word of Haley’s Civil War blunder and reignited their beef. “Nikki Haley wants grace for using a poor choice of words when … she didn’t offer me that same grace, immediately and very publicly took me to task,” the news anchor tweeted on December 28, 2023. Afterward, Lemon explained why he would prefer to see Donald Trump re-elected over Haley.
