You knew it was only a matter of time before Don Lemon weighed in on the Missouri student protests.
And surprise: He’s got some criticism.
This time, Lemon took aim at some of the students at Mizzou for choosing not to engage with media (or flat out banning them from certain spaces).
“The only issue I have with what happened at the University of Missouri is their vigorous effort to squash freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” Lemon said on a recent segment of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. “That is a very dangerous road that no one should want to go down.”
Listen to the full audio from Lemon’s appearance on Tom Joyner here
Playing a clip in which a reporter is trying to gather information from protesters, only to be turned away from both faculty and students, Lemon expressed fault with the students who he felt should know the meaning of free press due to attending a school with a great journalism program.
He called their practices “Un-American.”
As if to support his argument, Lemon decided to use evidence that both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. both welcomed the media and saw them as a means to share information with the masses. On his high horse, he preached about how these Civil Rights leaders’ feelings weren’t hurt easily and how they understood what it means to have freedom of press and speech.
To add further insult to injury, Lemon added that college students, “should not be coddled by retreating into so-called ‘safe spaces’ because they’re afraid of having their feelings hurt. If you’re afraid of having your feelings hurt, don’t leave your house. College is the place where robust debate should be welcomed and vigorously explored.”