Independent journalist Don Lemon on Thursday called on news reporters covering President Trump to \u201chave some dignity and a backbone,\u201d using former late-night host Stephen Colbert as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lemon, on his podcast \u201cThe Don Lemon Show,\u201d said that \u201call of the late-night shows are going dark\u201d to praise Colbert ahead of the final episode of \u201cThe Late Show.\u201d Then he turned his attention to the Washington Press Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo not let Karoline Leavitt call on the next person when you\u2019re not finishing your question. Stand up for your colleagues,\u201d he said, referring to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. \u201cStand up for yourself. Have some dignity and a backbone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He urged White House reporters to stand up for their colleagues and \u201cstand up for respect\u201d when facing Trump\u2019s insults during questioning, telling them to \u201cstand up for the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe next time someone calls one of your coworkers a piggy, the next time he calls them a loser, the next time he insults them, the next time he tells a Black woman that she knows dirt better than him, say something!\u201d Lemon yelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former CNN host was referring to a moment aboard Air Force One in November when the president told Bloomberg\u2019s Catherine Lucey \u201cQuiet, piggy,\u201d after she asked Trump about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lemon also referred to Trump\u2019s attacks on women of color who had asked him a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lemon praised Colbert for \u201ctelling the truth on purpose\u201d during his 11-year run as host of \u201cThe Late Show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd he is not done,\u201d Lemon added. \u201cAnd he is not afraid. And then wake up tomorrow and be that same thing in your own life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s attacks on the press escalated throughout the duration of the nearly three-month-long U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran. Last month, he bashed The New York Times and \u201cstupid CNN\u201d over their coverage of \u201cOperation Epic Fury,\u201d adding that the former\u2019s reporting was \u201cactually seditious, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lemon\u2019s former CNN colleague Jake Tapper clapped back at this remark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReporting these facts isn\u2019t treason, and it\u2019s deranged for any president to say such a thing and potentially dangerous for the reporters he\u2019s accusing of treason,\u201d the anchor said during a segment on \u201cThe Lead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same month Trump insulted Lucey, the White House released a so-called \u201cmedia bias\u201d tracker highlighting news reporting accused of being \u201coffenses\u201d toward the administration. The tracker follows the Washington Post, MS NOW, CBS News, CNN, The New York Times, Politico and the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colbert and the other late-night hosts have regularly lampooned Trump during both of his administrations, which was typically met with Trump blasting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The president praised Colbert\u2019s ousting and fired a torrent of Truth Social posts celebrating Colbert\u2019s departure Thursday and Friday, including an AI-generated video of the president tossing the former \u201cColbert Report\u201d host into a dumpster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStephen Colbert\u2019s firing from CBS was the \u2018Beginning of the End\u2019 for untalented, nasty, highly overpaid, not funny, and very poorly rated Late Night Television Hosts,\u201d Trump wrote one post. \u201cOthers, of even less talent, to soon follow. May they all Rest in Peace!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n