CNN anchors Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo had a heart-to-heart conversation about racism in America during the handoff between their shows on Tuesday.
"What’s going on with you? I saw you in the makeup room. Your energy is off. You seem down. Is this getting to you, what happened today? With what the president tweeted and how people are reacting?" Lemon asked his colleague.
"Is it getting to me? It hits close to home, to be honest. My grandparents were afraid of people like Trump. Ironically, they grew up very close to one another," Cuomo answered, recounting his family's story of seeking acceptance in America. "It hits close to home."
The two then discussed Cuomo's interview of former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who was defeated in his campaign for governor in the 2018 midterms after leading President Donald Trump's controversial voter-fraud commission, which disbanded within a year.
Kobach struggled on-air after being asked if he would support a racist running for president.
"It’s not even a thing, the answer is no, I wouldn’t vote for a racist," Lemon said, describing what he views as the proper response to such a question.
"Here’s the thing. He is, and a lot of his apologists, meaning the president -- are trying to pretend the president didn’t say go back to the -- 'your country.' When in the actual tweets, that’s exactly what he said," Lemon noted.
"So basically he lied to your face. And everyone else who is spinning it is lying to the American public," Lemon concluded.
"It's an extension of the brown menace, it’s ugly and obvious," Cuomo said.
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