CNN’s Don Lemon Shreds Trump’s Excuses for Dictators, Political Allies: ‘All’s Fair as Long as You Win’

CNN’s Don Lemon got exceptionally forceful on Monday as he ripped President Trump for his “fascination” with authoritarians and his support for those accused of troubling conduct whenever its politically convenient for him.

Lemon started with Trump taking the word of the Saudi Arabian government as they deny any responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi‘s disappearance. The president blamed “rogue killers” for the incident even as the latest reports suggest that Saudi officials actually killed Khashoggi during a botched interrogation at their embassy.

From there, the CNN host invoked Trump’s reluctance to “punish” the Saudi government over this incident because it’ll supposedly derail his economic agenda.

“Why is this president so eager to take the word of the leader of a repressive regime? Simple. It’s all about the deal.” Lemon said. “Punishing is a harsh word? I’ll tell you another harsh word: murder.”

Lemon continued by comparing Trump’s statements to his soft words about people like Kim Jong-Un and Vladimir Putin. He also drew parallels to how Trump defended his mockery of Christine Blasey Ford and also stood by Rob Porter and Roy Moore amid their controversies.

“The Trump Doctrine seems to be pretty simple: Anybody who sides with me is okay, No matter what they do. Anybody who doesn’t is my enemy. All’s fair as long as you win. Winning is all that matters to this president…So what happens if President Trump gets to a point where he needs to rein in these dictators? To protect Americans, to protect the free world. Does this president have any leverage left? Or has he left it all on the table and made a deal with the devil?”

Watch above, via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

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