‘How Do You Fix a Broken Democracy?’ Don Lemon Criticizes Those Comparing Summer Riots and Jan. 6

CNN host Don Lemon on Tuesday criticized those comparing last summer’s riots to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The New Day segment was about a U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, during sentencing of a Jan. 6 rioter to 45 days in jail, saying that “To compare the actions of people around the country protesting, mostly peacefully, for civil rights, to a violent mob seeking to overthrow the lawfully elected government is a false equivalency and downplays the very real danger that the crowd on Jan. 6 posed to our democracy.”

After reading that quote, co-host John Berman mentioned that another federal judge, Trevor McFadden, said while sentencing another Jan. 6 rioter, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office would have more credibility if it was even-handed in its concern about riots and the mobs in the city.”

“A tale of two judges,” said Berman, teeing up Lemon.

Lemon said:

One of them operating in reality, the other one operating not so much in reality.

There are judges who more than that one judge saying that these people are being handed lenient sentences and wondering why prosecutors and the Justice Department, why they’re not handing out harsher sentences for these people or charging them with harsher crimes because they were doing what?  Trying to undermine our democracy. And that is quite different than protesting because you are upset about something. One is breaking the law from a lie, built on a lie, nothing about the election that was stolen or anything that was untoward, it was one of the most secure – the most secure election in our nation’s history.

The other one was built on frustration and anger over what?

A justice system that is systemically racist towards people of color. That is the truth. The law shows that. The facts show that. And so one is a lie, built on a lie, the other one is built on out of frustration over a system that needs to be corrected.

Nonetheless, said Lemon, “no one should be rioting in this country.”

“Everyone can peacefully protest, that is your right as an American citizen. But having said everything I said, no one should be rioting,” he continued. “But one is a total lie and the other one is built out of frustration and built on actual facts.”

Co-host Brianna Keilar said, “There are many people who agree with the judge who conflates the two. They don’t see the difference between riots, where someone is breaking into a shoe store and looting, and a riot where you have people entering the Capitol while Congress is in session certifying an election.”

“One, a shoe can be replaced. And the vote is the value of a shoe. No one should be doing that. No one should be stealing anything from anyone,” said Lemon. “The other one: can you replace a democracy? How do you fix a broken democracy? That is, you can take a shoe and fix it or get another one. Right? Or an insurance policy can replace a shoe.”

“An insurance policy cannot replace the democracy or fix racism or fix a lie that has been spread by one person and the people who enable him,” continued Lemon, referring to former President Donald Trump.

Watch above, via CNN.