Watch as Normally Liberal Chris Cuomo Savages Don Lemon for Disrespecting Trump's Presidency
CNN host Chris Cuomo is about as far as one could be from being considered a conservative, and few people would even suggest he is some sort of centrist moderate, but every once in awhile — sort of like a squirrel finding a random buried nut — Cuomo stumbles upon and speaks the truth in a rational and reasonable manner.
One of those rare instances occurred Wednesday evening as he discussed with fellow CNN host Don Lemon the state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush that took place earlier that day. Specifically, they were talking about the moment when President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived at the National Cathedral and shook hands with their predecessors, Barack and Michelle Obama.
Lemon took great issue with the handshake between Trump and Obama — largely due to the “disrespect” Trump supposedly had shown toward his predecessor — and said he wouldn’t have shaken Trump’s hand, as he is “not that big a person” to set aside their differences for the moment.
In what came as a surprise to many, Cuomo rebuked Lemon for that bitter commentary and dismissed his colleague as “petty and small” for refusing to respect the office of the presidency.
“The Obamas are really classy folks, because I don’t know if I could be so … can we put that up?” said Lemon, referring to the video clip of the Trumps and Obamas greeting each other at the funeral service.
Asked by Cuomo what he was getting at, Lemon replied, “I want to say that I don’t think I would shake hands with them. I don’t know, I would just … nope, couldn’t do it. I’m not that big a person. I would hope that I would be, but I don’t … uh, I can’t ‘fake the funk,’ as they say.”
“I’m not saying the Obamas did that there,” he added.
Cuomo interrupted him and said, “Oh, I don’t think it’s about ‘faking the funk.’ I think it’s about showing respect for something bigger than them.”
“Why would they do it when he doesn’t?” Lemon said. “But I understand what you’re saying.”
Cuomo impatiently replied, “Oh, c’mon, that’s not the measure.”
“No, that’s not,” Lemon admitted, then angrily added, “What are you talking about, Chris? They showed respect for the office, the way they conducted themselves in office. No scandal. There was no trash. There was no affair, there was nothing,” all of which Cuomo affirmatively agreed with.
“They showed the ultimate respect for the office,” Lemon added. “They do not have to show respect for someone who does not respect them, someone who tweets out pictures of them behind bars. You don’t have to show respect for that kind of person.”
Cuomo seemed to agree, at least partially, and said, “You don’t have to.”
To emphasize his childish point, Lemon had a producer imitate Trump and approach him with an outstretched hand, which Lemon merely noted with a perfunctory nod and then ignored.
“You’re petty and small,” chastised Cuomo.
Lemon fired back, “Not petty and small. That’s real, brother, that’s real.”
“Real petty and small,” Cuomo said with a slight smile. But Lemon would not accept the rebuke of his pettiness and continued to attempt to defend his incivility and refusal to grant a modicum of respect for the office of the presidency regardless of who may happen to inhabit that office at the moment.
To be sure, by no means was Cuomo defending Trump. He was merely suggesting that, rather than be petty and small like Lemon, Obama had taken the higher path and set aside his immense differences with Trump to show a bit of civility and respect for their shared status as leaders of the free world.
Sadly, that lack of respect for even the generalized office of the presidency exhibited by Lemon is a mindset shared by too many Trump haters these days.
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