CNN’s Don Lemon said Nikki Haley is not “in her prime” and shouldn’t be throwing stones about the age of candidates seeking political office.
“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime,” Lemon said on CNN’s morning program Thursday. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
Lemon’s quip was immediately met with pushback from co-host Poppy Harlow, who asked, “What are you talking about, wait … prime for what?”
“It depends, it’s just like prime, if you look it up,” Lemon responded. “If you Google ‘when is a woman in her prime,’ it’ll say 20s, 30s and 40s.”
Harlow, who turns 41 in May, pumped her fist, seemingly sarcastically, and exclaimed, “40s! Yes! So I’ve got another decade.”
Lemon, 56, interjected, “I’m not saying I agree with that, so I think she [Haley] needs to be careful about saying politicians aren’t in their prime.”
Haley, 51, announced this week that she is running for president and called for competency tests for politicians over 75 years old as part of her campaign launch.
“I think you need to put on qualifiers, like prime for like child-bearing or …” Harlow told Lemon.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying Google what the facts are — Google it, everyone at home, when is a woman in her prime,” he said. “And I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime and they need to be in their prime when they serve.”
Lemon later sought to walk back the remark, calling it “inartful and irrelevant” on Twitter.
“The reference I made to a woman’s “prime” this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day,” he said.
Lemon, one of CNN’s most widely known personalities, was tapped last fall to host the network’s revamped morning show amid sluggish ratings. He has clashed in recent months with his two female co-hosts in the past, including an on-air spat over pay disparities in men’s and women’s professional soccer.
Haley hit back at Lemon on Twitter, sharing a video clip of the host’s comments and writing, “liberals can’t stand the idea of having competency tests for older politicians to make sure they can do the job.”
“BTW it’s always the liberals who are the most sexist,” Haley said.
— Updated at 2 p.m.