CNN host Don Lemon said Wednesday night that anyone who is angry at his comments that the biggest threat to the security of the nation is white conservative men is ‘missing the point’.
Lemon drew massive outrage after he posited that there should be a travel ban on white right wing American men, and said “we have to start doing something about them.”
Responding to the backlash, Lemon doubled down.
“I said that the biggest terror threat in this country comes from radicals on the far right, primarily white men. That angered some people.” the CNN host noted.
“But let’s put emotion aside and look at the cold hard facts. The evidence is overwhelming.” Lemon continued.
“A recent report from the Government Accountability Office shows that. Even though more people died in attacks connected to Islamic extremists, the vast majority of deadly attacks in this country from 2001 to 2016 were carried out by far-right violent extremists.” he stated.
“So let me break that down for you even further,” he continued. “Their analysis shows that for every 8 deadly attacks by right-wing extremists, there were 1 by left-wing extremists. Those are the facts.
Lemon then flashed a graphic detailing deaths stemming from attacks by “far right-wing extremists,” compared to jihadists and “black separatists”.
“So people who were angered about what I said are missing the entire point.” Lemon argued.
“We don’t need to worry about people who are thousands of miles away,” the host declared, adding “The biggest threats are homegrown. The facts prove that.”
Of course, “black separatists” and “left wing extremists” are not exclusively one and the same. Neither are white male Americans and “far right-wing extremists.”
Lemon isn’t stupid. He knows that he’s bending the facts to breaking point here to back up a sensationalist, and frankly racist, claim that white male Americans are the biggest terror threat in the US.
Lemon made the latest comments despite CNN telling the AP that neither the network nor Lemon would make any further comments on the matter.
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