Media personality Megyn Kelly blasted with embattled CNN host Don Lemon after he called Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley past her prime.
“This is blatant sexism,” Kelly blasted during her SiriusXM the Megyn Kelly Show.
“Shame on him for doing this on the air, and frankly, those other women on set with him were pathetic and weak in calling him out,” she said.
“He deserved a more robust response. He deserves it now from colleagues at CNN, he deserves it from the colleagues in the news industry and the bosses at CNN.”
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Haley called for politicians older than 75 to participate in “mandatory mental competency tests.”
Lemon reacted to her statement saying it made him “uncomfortable.”
“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon said.
“I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
CNN This Morning co-anchor Poppy Harlow asked Lemon to clarify what he meant by a woman’s “prime for childbearing.” Lemon told Harlow to “Google it.”
“If you Google ‘CNN,’ it comes up as ‘the most trusted news source.’ So we can’t always rely on Google, Don,” Kelly said.
“I’m so irritated by this guy and, honestly, his misogyny — and I don’t use that word about a lot of people.”
Kelly noted several females who have held influential positions across the globe.
“He doesn’t understand anything about women, about America, about prime,” Kelly added. “He’s 56, by the way, I guess he’d be the first to tell you he’s still in his prime, but the internet says, ‘That we women, we’re well past our prime so we about to be put out to pasture.’ I’m sorry. This is absurd. I’ve had it with this guy.”
Lemon has since apologized for his comments.
“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,” Lemon tweeted.
Last year, Lemon was demoted from his primetime show, which no one watched.
Then his morning show, which no one watched, bombed completely after averaging just 331,000 viewers.
Lemon must be feeling the pressure, and might explain why he exploded at one of his co-hosts for interrupting him.
READ MORE: ‘CNN This Morning’ Becomes LOWEST-RATED Morning Show in a Decade
