Don Lemon: Trump should apologize to Obama

CNN host Don Lemon said if President Trump is demanding an apology from ESPN’s Jamele Hill for referring to him as a white supremacist, Trump should first apologize to former President Obama. 

“I think when the president worked for NBC at “The Apprentice,” and he said that Barack Obama was not born here, and he called Barack Obama a racist, if he apologizes for that, then maybe ESPN should apologize,” Lemon told TMZ, in a video posted on Sunday. 

Lemon’s comments come after Hill, who is a co-host on ESPN’s “Sports Center,” called Trump a white supremacist on Twitter.  

Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017

The network distances itself from Hill in a statement, saying her views did not represent the network, but stopped short of firing her. 

However, the comments proved to go too far for Trump.{mosads}

“That is one of the more outrageous comments that anybody could make and certainly is something that is a fireable offense by ESPN,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said last week. 

Trump himself blasted the comments, taking to Twitter saying, “ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!” 

ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017

The administration continued its attacks on ESPN on Friday. 

“The point is that ESPN has been hypocritical, they should hold anchors to a fair and consistent standard,” Sanders said.

“ESPN suspended a long-time anchor, Linda Cohn, not too long ago for expressing a political viewpoint. The network’s public editor has said there is a perception that ESPN has become political and that it harms the network. This is clearly a political statement, they should be consistent in whatever guidelines they have set themselves in that front.”