Former CNN anchor Don Lemon opened up in a sit-down interview two months after his ouster from the network.
“I have a responsibility not only as a journalist but as an American to tell the truth and to abide by the promises of the Constitution,” Lemon told ABC24 Memphis in an exclusive interview that aired Saturday. “Because the Constitution says a more perfect union, not a perfect union. I’m not a perfect person. No one is.”
Lemon said in a Twitter post in late April that he had been fired by CNN after 17 years with the network, saying he was “stunned” by the move.
Just a few months earlier, the journalist had come under fire and was temporarily removed from the airways for his comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age.
“Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry,” Lemon said in response to the former South Carolina governor’s suggestion of mental competency tests for politicians over 75. “When a woman is considered to be in her prime — in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.”
In the wake of his abrupt exit from CNN, Lemon suggested Saturday that he’s not in any rush to figure out what he’s doing next.
“I’m not gonna force anything,” Lemon said. “I’m not gonna let others people’s timelines influence me.”
“I know people say, ‘I miss you on television. What is your next move?’ I’m figuring that out,” he continued. “I don’t have to be in a rush. I think sometimes people rush to make decisions and they end up making the wrong decisions.”