Former CNN anchor Don Lemon argued that he does not think black people can genuinely support President Donald Trump and his “MAGA” agenda, claiming there is a difference between supporting Trump and supporting the Republican Party.
Lemon made his case during a discussion with late-night TV host Bill Maher, arguing that “the shortest line to the front” of a television camera is by a black person advocating Trump, even though “they know he is lying.” Maher then questioned if Lemon thinks a black person cannot be a sincere supporter of Trump, prompting Lemon to argue there can be “sincere Republicans.”
“I don’t think that you can … be black and be a rational MAGA person,” Lemon said on Maher’s Club Random podcast. “I think you can be black and be a Republican.”
Maher suggested that black Trump supporters would find Lemon’s opinion “insulting,” to which Lemon argued that “the truth is often insulting.” The late-night TV host contended that while Lemon’s latter point was “true,” he did not share the same opinion on Lemon’s view on black Trump supporters and pointed to how “20% of black men voted for Trump.”
Following the release of Maher’s discussion with Lemon, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), a black congressman, harshly condemned the former CNN anchor’s remarks, claiming that Lemon sold his soul to “a left-wing media machine that discarded you like spoiled lunch meat.”
I’ve been holding back on this one, but I just can’t help myself… And since we’re talking about truth, here’s some for Don Lemon:
You sold your soul to a left-wing media machine that discarded you like spoiled lunch meat.
Most of America found your opinions worthless,… pic.twitter.com/vDlBAf4OZy
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) March 17, 2025
“Meanwhile, Black MAGA is here,” Hunt wrote on X. “I’m a proud husband, father of three, combat veteran, West Point graduate, Ivy League triple-degree holder, and a U.S. Congressman. You know how I achieved that, Don? By being a serious, rational person. So keep talking, because this racist garbage only strengthens our resolve and grows our movement.”
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On Sunday evening, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) posited that black people are “actually more conservative” than what the Democratic Party offers, and lawmakers such as himself break the media’s “narrative” that suggests the Democratic Party is the only political home for black people.
In the 2024 presidential election, Trump won roughly three out of every 10 votes from black men, nearly doubling the voting demographic’s numbers in the 2020 presidential election.