Anker Don Lemon addressed his colleague Chris Cuomo’s friendly interview with Chris Christie on Thursday night, accusing his CNN co-anchor of letting the former New Jersey governor “ rehabilitate ” his reputation after becoming an advocate for wearing masks .
Christie, who spent a week in the ICU this fall recovering from COVID-19, appeared on Cuomo’s schedule to discuss the new national ad campaign in which he says he regrets not wearing a face mask during a visit to the White House. The Trump ally acknowledges in the ad that the decision led to him contracting the coronavirus.
After finishing his interview, in which Christie also called on President Trump to “ accept ” President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Cuomo handed over to Lemon at the beginning of 10 p.m. ET. And Lemon said he was not impressed with what he had just seen.
“I wanted to say that Chris Christie is doing a great job restoring his reputation,” Lemon said immediately. He is currently in rehab. That’s what he does. I didn’t believe a word he said to you. “
“Don’t you think he wants you to wear a mask?” Cuomo replied.
(Interestingly, Cuomo himself has been criticized in the past for ignoring the restrictions and guidelines of the coronavirus. The anchor infamously became an altercation after breaking quarantine while COVID was positive and seen outside. Cuomo has also been scolded by his New York apartment building for not wearing a mask.)
Lemon said Christie didn’t go far enough with his advocacy for masks, adding that the former governor should call for a mask mandate, not just tell people to wear masks. Lemon also denounced Christie for continuing to punish Trump’s behavior for their “ friendship. ”
“That’s not right,” exclaimed Lemon. “That is no excuse for his behavior. What he does is instead of saying, “Don’t drive, I’ll take the keys,” he got into the president’s car! ‘
Later in the lively back and forth between the two CNN friends, Lemon criticized the ex-governor for not seeing the flaw in his course of action until after he fell ill.
“I’m just saying that Chris Christie could have done a lot of things to help the country when he had the opportunity to help fewer people get sick or die,” Lemon said. When he got sick, he rushed to the hospital and took a bed away from someone who might not have been there if he had said, ‘The president is wrong.’ ”
After Cuomo called that “tortuous analysis” and said that Christie “deserved” his hospital bed, Lemon doubled down on his harsh assessment.
“A lot of people get sick,” he said, adding, “That doesn’t relieve him of his behavior.”
‘But he said,’ I was wrong. ‘What do you want him to do? Cuomo replied.
“I wanted him to say what the president had done wrong,” Lemon retorted. “I wanted him to stop making excuses for the president’s behavior and try to say that his friendship excuses his behavior and his misdeeds.”
“He’s a grown man,” the outspoken anchor continued. What he should have said is, “ I shouldn’t have entered that room. I should have told my friend the truth at the time, I should have distanced himself from him if he is doing the wrong thing. ”