Don Lemon Belittles Jon Stewart On Hot Mic, Quickly Backtracks In Panic

Today, we check in with our battered pal Don Lemon.

Monday, he threw to a clip of Jon Stewart interviewing U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks in which Stewart referred to the DOD's $850 billion budget as "extreme waste."

"I can't figure out how $850 billion to a department means that the rank and file still have to be on food stamps," said Stewart. "

"To me, that's f***ing corruption."

As the segment aired, Lemon committed what Broadcasting 101 introduces as its first written-in-ink no-no: assuming your mic is cold.

Unbeknownst to his live mic, Lemon belittled Stewart as just a comedian. "He gets a lot of leeway with the comedian thing," said Don.

Lemon panicked frantically after learning his comment aired over the broadcast. He quickly backtracked after a few minutes of silence.

“We were just discussing that Jon Stewart is so much more than a comedian. He is a thought leader,” Lemon declared, via The Daily Beast.

Actually, Don, you weren't.

Rather, you were stating the opposite. You sought to diminish Stewart's knowledge of political affairs by calling him just a comedian to your co-hosts.

Don Lemon and Jon Stewart.

After more awkward silence, Lemon doubled down like a sheep.

“Yeah, when I was saying comedian and television host, he’s so much more than that,” Lemon added. “I don’t even know if you need to qualify Jon Stewart as that. But good interview there.”

It's unclear why Lemon so hectically back-peddled.

Does he fear he's on his final straw following his sentencing to anti-woman rehab at the hands of his CEO?

Does he fear Jon Stewart might walk past him in the halls following reports that CNN wants to hire Stewart for primetime?

Hard to say.

Never before has a bigger eunuch appeared on the airwaves as consistently as Don Lemon.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 15: Don Lemon attends the Michael Kors Collection Fall/Winter 2023 Runway Show on February 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors)

Moreover, the hot mic incident raises a question of intent.

Sure, it could have been an honest mistake from a producer filling in on the day after Easter. Or, the producer purposely left Lemon's mic hot.

There's evidence to suggest CNN staffers want to further damage Lemon's fractured reputation.

Lost in a Variety article last week reporting Lemon's long-standing fear of women was the intent of the leak. Someone, or someones, inside CNN is feeding outlets information about Lemon to ruin him.

Information gets out when someone wants information to get out.

And since December, reports have surfaced via inside sources that Lemon berated his co-host behind the scenes, is a menace to producers, and has long treated female staffers poorly.

Fitting it'd be for a lowly producer to follow up recent leaks by sabotaging Don Lemon with a hot mic.