CNN's Don Lemon roasted as 'sexist' for saying Nikki Haley past her 'prime'

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CNN's Don Lemon: 'Nikki Haley isn't in her prime, sorry'

CNN's Don Lemon argued on Thursday that "Nikki Haley isn't in her prime" and that she should be careful about alienating older voters who could be her strongest supporters. 

CNN host Don Lemon was blasted on Thursday after he claimed former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley is not in her prime and declared a woman is in her "prime" in her "20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s."

"This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are something if not in their prime. 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 said during "CNN This Morning" on Thursday. 

Real Clear Politics reporter Philip Wegman tweeted that Lemon made an "in-kind contribution to the Nikki Haley campaign," in response to a clip of Lemon's comments. 

"Just thinking about the reporting process that went into this. Don Lemon heard Haley talking about politicians being past their prime, so he googled ‘when are women in their prime’ and decided that was an authoritative metric of presidential fitness. Remarkable," Lachlan Markay, a former Axios reporter, said. 

CNN host Don Lemon suggests Nikki Haley is past her prime on Thursday, February 16, 2023.  (Screenshot/CNN/CNNThisMorning)

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Lemon's co-host Poppy Harlow questioned his claim and asked him to explain what he meant by Haley, who is 51, not being in her prime. Lemon noted that he googled it. 

"It depends, just like prime, if you look it up. If you Google it, when is a woman in her prime, it'll say 20s, 30s and 40s," Lemon continued. "I’m not saying I agree with that. I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime."

Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey responded to the comments on Twitter as well and asked, "Isn’t 51 actually quite young by presidential standards?? Trump and Biden were both over 70 when elected."

Lemon also told CNN viewers to Google it themselves. 

"I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is woman in her prime, it says 20s, 30s and 40s. And I’m just saying should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime and they need to be in prime when they serve. Because she wouldn't be in her prime according to," Lemon said, as Harlow finished his sentence and said, "Google."

Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley greets people as she announces her run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst  (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

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MSNBC and NBC Capitol Hill reporter Ali Vitali also criticized Lemon as an example of how "not" to report fairly on all presidential candidates. 

"With the start of each new presidential cycle comes the chance for reporters to do better, less sexist, more fair coverage of all candidates. This is a clear example of how *not to do that. But we all have the next year to get it right next time," she wrote.

Fox News contributor Joe Concha noted Don Lemon is 56 and is older than Haley. 

"It's an utter mystery why almost no one is watching this masterpiece of a morning show hastily put together by Chris Licht," Concha tweeted. 

Reason editor Billy Binion said Lemon's comments were "utter garbage," politics aside. 

"Don Lemon justified this by saying he Googled ‘when is a woman in her prime?’ and the results said ‘20s, 30s, & 40s.’ In other words, Haley shouldn’t run for president because she’s no longer at peak sex appeal. No matter what your politics are, that’s utter garbage."

CNN host Don Lemon discusses support for Biden among the American electorate. (CNN screenshot)

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"I totally missed when Don Lemon brought up Hillary Clinton’s age during her campaign for president. But Nikki Haley is ‘past her prime’ at 51," Washington Examiner contributor Kimberly Ross tweeted.

Haley, who announced her 2024 candidacy on Tuesday, called for a universal rule on Wednesday that would require politicians over 75 to take "mental competency tests" before running for office.