Don Lemon: U.S. does ‘very same things’ to protesters as Iran, where 30,000 killed

Former CNN host Don Lemon likened America to Iran on free speech issues, including killing protesters, during a Friday episode of “This is Gavin Newsom.”

While there have been some isolated shootings by Department of Homeland Security agents of individuals who opposed President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, Iranian security forces reportedly massacred 30,000 anti-regime protesters in the lead-up to the U.S. conflict with Iran. Yet Lemon suggested on the podcast that America lacked “moral authority” over the Islamic Republic after host Gavin Newsom asked him about the January FBI raid of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home and devices.

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“Reporters have privilege. It’s like an attorney. And so you have to be very careful about those things. And we cannot lose those things,” Lemon said. “Otherwise we are going to lose the First Amendment. We’re going to lose the freedom of the press because part of that is having sources and being able to be trusted by those sources that you’re not going to give any information away that they give you.”

“So we cannot lose those norms and those traditions because otherwise we’re no better than a country that we’re at war with right now. And we are saying that Iran shoots protesters. Well, so do we,” he added. “And we’re over there because Iran jails reporters or doesn’t have free speech. And that makes us no better than them — if we are acting and doing the very same things that they’re doing, then what sort of moral authority do we have to be able to be there and in a war and quite frankly killing people?”

Federal agents on Jan. 29 arrested Lemon in connection with a Jan. 18 incident in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he filmed himself inside a church with anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters who disrupted a worship service. He said he was held in a federal courthouse holding room for around 12 hours.

The indictment against Lemon alleges he conspired with others “to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate multiple persons … in the free exercise and enjoyment of the rights and privileges secured to them” under U.S. law.

The raid of Natanson was part of a probe into a Pentagon contractor accused of leaking government secrets, according to multiple reports.

Moreover, former MSNBC host Joy Reid similarly compared the U.S. and Iran, but focused on women’s issues and religion during a March 11 episode of the “One 54Africa.”

“[W]e’re marginally better and we’re doing it for Christianity, they’re doing it for Islam,” Reid claimed.

However, the World Economic Forum ranked the Iran 143rd out of 146 countries in its 2024 “Global Gender Gap Report,” far below the U.S.

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