CNN host Don Lemon said it was wrong for conservatives to compare the Black Lives Matter riots that resulted in billions of dollars in damage to the Capitol building riot that occurred last Wednesday.
Lemon said the riots in 2020 were born out of a justified cause, ending police brutality, while the Capitol riot was the result of a "lie" being pushed by President Trump and his allies about the 2020 election.
"I’m sick of people comparing. You cannot compare what happened this summer to what happened at the Capitol. It’s two different things. One is built on people, on racial justice, on criminal justice, on reform, on police not beating up — police treating people of color different listen than they do whites. Okay? That is not a lie. Those are facts. Go look at them," Lemon said to fellow host Chris Cuomo.
"What happened at the capitol was built on a lie perpetrated by the President and the people who support him. So just on that one merit, if you want to call it, it’s not comparable. Those things are not comparable. So they should not doing it...No one has ever, ever gone this far in saying an election was not legitimate with all the evidence we have," he added.
"The truth is, when somebody says to you, they are aware of what happened last week, but this summer — as soon as the words come out of their mouth, they do not care about what happened last week...They get it’s not apples to apples. It’s a reflection of the truth, what is happening in the country. There are people who don’t care, who don’t like what was done, who don’t believe the black people are justified and it’s why last week happened and we can get angry too. That’s the truth. And it is our problem," Cuomo said.
The 2020 riots were more widespread and lasted for days, resulting in destruction across the country, with even the White House perimeter being attacked. The attack forced the White House to go on lockdown and President Trump having to go into the bunker.