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Don Lemon hits back at Nicki Minaj over comments on Cities Church protest row: ‘Homophobic’
Nicki Minaj attacked Don Lemon with a homophobic slur after his protest livestream. Lemon condemned the remarks as disgusting and bigoted, linking them to MAGA.
Don Lemon, who caused quite a row on after livestreaming from the protests at Cities Church in St. Paul, was scathingly attacked by Trump ally, rapper Nicki Minaj, in an X post on Monday. She used a homophobic slur, referring to Lemon, who is openly gay, as 'Don 'C**** S*****' Lemon.'
Lemon, a former CNN journalist, reacted to the post calling Minaj's comments "disgusting and homophobic." He referred to Minaj as part of the broad base of Donald Trump's Make America Great Again, saying, "their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes, like Nicki Minaj, by the way."
Lemon's reaction came on the IHIP News podcast hosted by Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan.
Lemon was present at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota as protestors stormed the building during the Sunday service. The protests were around the links of a pastor at the church, David Easterwood, to the ICE. it came in the aftermath of the massive anti-ICE protests after the death of Renee Nicole Good in a fatal shooting involving ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Lemon has claimed that he was present at the church in his capacity as a journalist. He has denied any links to protestors.
Amid that, rapper Nicki Minaj hit out Don Lemon on X. "DON 'C*** SUCKIN' LEMON IS DISGUSTING,” she wrote (sic). "HOW DARE YOU? I WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!! HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ANY OTHER RELIGION. LOCK HIM UP!!!!!"
Will Don Lemon Be Arrested?
Calls for Lemon to be arrested for his alleged role in the protests have grown on right-wing social media in the US. Demands that he be charged under the SAVE Act or the Ku Klux Klan Act have also grown significantly. However, as of now, Lemon is only "under notice," according to the Department of Justice.
“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws!” DOJ Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said about Lemon's role.
Lemon, however, has maintained that he was present at the site of the protest in his capacity as a journalist.
"I have no affiliation to that organization," he said. "I didn't even know they were going to this church until we followed them there. We were there chronicling protests.
Here's the video:
"Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was to report on it and talk to the people who were involved, which included the pastor, members of the church, and members of the organization," he added. "That's it. It's called journalism."
