Don Lemon Says Elon Musk Should’ve ‘Sat Down With Megyn Kelly or Tucker Carlson’ if He Wanted To Be Lavished ‘With Praise for an Hour’
Former CNN host Don Lemon said on Wednesday that billionaire Elon Musk should have “sat down with Megyn Kelly or Tucker Carlson” if he wanted to be lavished “with praise for an hour,” following his tense interview with the X owner.
“The interview was precisely what Elon has long claimed that he wants to make a home for on X: a free exchange of ideas,” said Lemon during the second episode of The Don Lemon Show:
We dug into serious issues, the nuances of the electoral college, the future of automotives, the complexities of DEI, even our own personal battles with depression. Did he really expect for me to simply lavish him with praise for an hour? If so, he could’ve sat down with Megyn Kelly or Tucker Carlson. But no, he opted to sit down with me, an independent journalist, to have a real conversation. I’m glad he did it, and if he chooses to watch the whole interview, he’ll come to appreciate just how valuable our discussion was.
During the same episode on Wednesday, tech journalist and podcaster Kara Swisher – who has interviewed Musk herself – told Lemon why she thought Musk was unhappy with the viral interview this month.
“I thought it was an excellent interview. I thought it was very fair,” said Swisher. “I think two things happened. One, he is so surrounded by people who kiss his ass all the time, or lick him up and down all day, that he’s not used to any pushback whatsoever anymore. He used to be, by the way.”
She continued, “Two, he’s easily bored. I know it sounds crazy, I don’t think you were boring, I don’t think your questions were boring, but he was bored, and so he got irritated.”
Lemon had his contract with Musk’s platform X canceled following the interview, which ended with Musk abruptly walking out.
During an appearance on Mediaite’s Press Club this week, Lemon spoke about the fallout from the interview, as well as his relationship with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
“I don’t believe in most of what Tucker believes in. I find much of what he says reprehensible at times,” Lemon told Mediaite editor-in-chief Aidan McLaughlin. “But if someone calls or if someone extends an olive branch, I’ll see what they have to say, and there’s nothing wrong with, well, ‘We got let go of our jobs on the same day. How weird is that?’”
Watch above via Don Lemon.
