Don Lemon: Tim Scott Shouldn’t Be Called ‘Oreo’ But He Is Accountable for ‘Voting Against The Interests Of His Own People’

CNN host Don Lemon said it was wrong for Lamar County Texas Democratic Party Gary O’Connor to deride Senator Tim Scott as an “Oreo,” and that Black people may use the term privately, it shouldn’t be used “in the public sphere.”

O’Connor referred to Sen. Scott as an “Oreo” in a since-deleted Facebook post criticizing the senator’s rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s joint address to Congress last week. O’Connor later apologized and resigned, but his resignation was not accepted.

On Friday’s New Day, Lemon was asked to weigh in, and he delivered a nuanced commentary in which he decried “name-calling,” explained the term “Oreo,” and said he understood the substance of the criticism — which he suggested is likely used in private by many Black people — even as he disagreed with the manner in which it was expressed:

LEMON: No, I think it’s — obviously, you don’t need the name calling. Any time you call someone a name, you don’t want to become them. You stoop to their level. You give your competitors ammunition and you give them a talking point and you become them.

So I don’t think it’s helpful to call anyone names. There are ways that you can hold people to account that you can call people out by not using names. I do it all the time.

KEILAR: Can I ask you about that, though? This idea, larger than that, is when I see those comments from the Democratic Party chair, it’s almost as if he’s saying, if you are black, you should be a Democrat, right? He’s sort of saying that —

LEMON: I don’t think that’s what he’s saying.

KEILAR: What do you think he’s saying?

LEMON: I think that’s a Republican talking point when people say if you are — if you are black, you should be a Democrat.

KEILAR: No, explain, you know, what Oreo means.

LEMON: Oreo is that he’s black on the outside, and he’s white on the inside. So I think that has to do with how you stand on social issues, issues that affect African-Americans, if you are voting against your own interests. If you are upholding a party that has really been not even — trafficking — has been trafficking in racism and insurrectionist party, a party that’s trying to restrict the voting rights for people who look like you.

So African-Americans understand what he’s saying. I don’t think that they would agree that he should be saying it that way, especially publicly. Now, I’m going to be honest. If you’re sitting around the kitchen table and you’re black and with other black people, they may say the same thing. What is wrong with, you know what, the term he used. But I don’t think it should be used publicly.

I think it is damaging to Democrats, if they are trying to do that, and it gives Republicans talking points.

Tim Scott should be held accountable for what he is doing and if he is voting against the interests of his own people.

That is something that’s valid and should be talked about. The name- calling is something different. It should be kept out of the public sphere.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!