Don Lemon Rushes To CNN’s Defense After Jan. 6 Doc Filmmaker Insults Network ‘Echo Chamber’: ‘Nothing Fake About CNN’
Don Lemon was quick to defend his network after a guest accused CNN of being a part of dangerous “media echo chambers.”
Andrew Callaghan appeared on CNN This Morning on Monday to discuss his upcoming documentary This Place Rules. The HBO film acts as a deep-dive on the January 6 Capitol riot and the events leading up to it. Callaghan’s film includes a number of vocal Trump supporters, including Alex Jones, who was filmed drinking whiskey and lifting weights at one point in what the filmmaker described as a “surreal” moment. One of the movie’s producers is Superbad star Jonah Hill.
While discussing his work, Callaghan insisted it is not just a film about the Capitol riot, but also the influence media has on the public, which is when he fit in his CNN dig.
Callaghan said:
The movie’s not just about the Capitol riot and all that. It’s also about media echo chambers, you know what I mean? And the dangers of the 24-hour news cycle and how I think mainstream media like Fox and even CNN compete for views by running constant, 24-hour news cycles based upon fear, division, outrage, and panic probably to sell ads. So it’s not just about the Capitol riot.
Lemon did not like CNN being lumped in with Fox News and insisted there’s nothing “fake” about his network.
“I’m not exactly sure — first of all, I don’t agree with what you’re saying, but I’m not exactly sure how that played into people going into the Capitol and rioting on January 6. There’s nothing fake about CNN,” Lemon said.
Callaghan was undeterred, criticizing the mainstream media landscape as a whole for “ramping” people up and stoking divisions.
“I’m not saying like fake news. I’m just saying ramping people up and increasing division during that period of time. Just watching people kind of fall down the rabbit hole and be pushed into action and, just yeah, falling down the conspiracy rabbit hole,” he said.
The two did find a point in the middle to meet on when Lemon declared the former president and others deserve more blame for dividing people ahead of the Capitol riot, to which Callaghan said agreed.
This Place Rules airs on HBO on December 30. It will then be available to stream on HBO Max.
Watch above via CNN
