CNN host Don Lemon railed against The Daily Caller and its reporter Neil Munro on his show Sunday for interrupting President Obama during his Friday remarks on immigration policy.
The Daily Caller's Munro raised many eyebrows last week for what some called his "outrageous" and inappropriate behavior. The Daily Caller tweeted that it was "proud" of Munro and editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson suggested that his reporter's actions were similar to those of former White House correspondent Sam Donaldson during the Reagan years.
“I don’t remember Diane Sawyer scolding her colleague Sam Donaldson for heckling President Reagan," Carlson said in a statement after Munro interrupted Obama. "And she shouldn’t have. A reporter’s job is to ask questions and get answers."
In a statement to The Huffington Post's Michael Calderone, Donaldson rejected any comparison between himself and Munro, stating, "Never once did I interrupt a president in any way while he was making a formal statement, a speech, honoring awardees or in any other way holding the floor...What this man did yesterday is something new, to me wrong and unusual."
During his "No Talking Points" segment, Lemon dismissed Carlson's statement and praised Donaldson's response. "There’s a huge difference between Sam Donaldson and Neil Munro," Lemon said. "For starters, who the hell is Neil Munro?" He also scathingly asked Carlson how he would feel if someone heckled him during his "Dancing With The Stars" performance.
"Someone needs to take a good long look in the Mirror-Ball [trophy]. Oh wait, you didn't win. In fact, you were the first to be sent packing," Lemon said.
Lemon highlighted a second portion of Donaldson's statement, in which the former White House correspondent addressed what he thought of some of the president's harshest critics.
"Let's face it," Donaldson wrote. "Many on the political right believe this president ought not to be there – they oppose him not for his polices and political view but for who he is, an African American!"
Lemon called Donaldson's statement "dignified" and thanked him for pointing out what he called the "elephant in the Rose Garden."
"Finally," Lemon said. "Thank you, Sam Donaldson – enough said there."
Lemon continued, "This is America...we pride ourselves on civility. And we also respect the Office of the Presidency just as we respect the courage of a man or a woman who dons a uniform to fight for our country. As a journalist, I know there are ways to get my questions answered. It may not always be on the timeline I want, but there's always a way to do it. And Mr. Munro interrupting to leader of the free world at the White House in front of an international audience is not the way."