CNN anchor Don Lemon and his partner attended President Biden’s signing of the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday at the White House.
“It will affect us. We are happy to be here to witness this moment. When we got the invitation from the White House, I said immediately, absolutely, we want to come and experience this,” Lemon said while appearing on CNN from the South Lawn standing next to his partner, Tim Malone, a New York-based luxury real estate executive.
“It’s pretty amazing. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the crowd seems lively. Everybody seems like they’re in a pretty good mood. It’s pretty exciting to be here,” Malone said. “I’m glad we came.”
Biden signed the legislation to safeguard marriage equality, which the White House has described as “personal” to the president, at a celebratory event attended by more than 2,000 people.
Lemon and Malone got engaged before the pandemic, the anchor said, and, after briefly postponing wedding planning, picked up a marriage license from a New York courthouse that expires on Dec. 18.
“So we have to get married before Dec. 18, or we gotta go stand in line at the courthouse in New York and do it all over again,” Lemon deadpanned.
A longtime prime-time host on CNN, Lemon was recently tapped by new network boss Chris Licht to serve as a host of its revamped morning show along with Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.