WATCH: Don Lemon schools CNN panel on who counts as a 'working-class' American

A CNN panel on Thursday got into an intense discussion about who in the United States counts as a "working-class" American.

The discussion started when former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang explained how many working-class Americans in rural America have come to see the Democratic Party not as a vehicle for making their lives better, but as an institution that polices their culture.

"If you're in that situation -- this to me is a fundamental problem for the Democratic Party -- if they don't figure this out, then this polarization, division, will not getting better," he said.

Lemon, however, interjected to argue that working-class people don't just live in the South or the Midwest, but in deep blue parts of the country.

"I was born in a red state, I've lived in many red states," he said. "And I take offense sometimes because sometimes I think it means that when you're talking about working class people, you're talking about white people who live in red states or live in the Midwest. There are working class people who live in New York City. There are working-class people who live in Chicago of all different ethnicities and the Democratic Party may be looking out for them."

Watch the video below.