CNN anchor Don Lemon, to the surprise of many, came to the defense of Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, who was confronted at a Montana fishing shop over the weekend for his vaccine rhetoric.
"I never thought I'd be in the position to maybe somehow have to defend Tucker Carlson," Lemon said Monday ahead of showing the video of Carlson being accosted by Dan Bailey.
Bailey can be be seen getting up in Carlson's face before telling him he is "the worst human known to man" and accused him of killing people for his regular commentary on coronavirus vaccines. Carlson then puts his hand on Bailey's chest and tells him "settle down, son," before emphasizing that he is with his daughter. Bailey, however, said he does not care.
Tucker Carlson tells a man who confronts him in a fly fishing shop to “settle down, son.”
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 24, 2021
pic.twitter.com/PlsCSU9HWS
Lemon, who notably is no fan of Carlson, said that Bailey was in the wrong for this confrontation and pointed out that he would not want such a scenario to unfold if he was in the shoes of the Fox News host.
"Let me tell you this, I don’t like it," Lemon said of the incident. "I don’t like it when people do that because I would not want it to happen to me."
However, Lemon's defense of Carlson also featured some hesitancy, saying that he has "mixed emotions because Tucker has done this to people before."
And while CNN commentator Ana Navarro applauded Bailey's move, saying that people have every right to be frustrated and that they have a First Amendment right to express their opinion, Lemon maintained his position regarding the confrontation.
Despite Carlson's constant ridicule of both him and CNN, Lemon noted that the Fox News personality should still be able to participate in everyday public life without being confronted.
"I think that what Tucker says much of the time is completely reprehensible and divorced from reality," Lemon said, "but he has a right to be in a space and not be accosted and not be ambushed by anyone."
Lemon's sentiment mirrored Fox News' statement about the incident.
"Ambushing Tucker Carlson while he is in a store with his family is totally inexcusable," the statement read. "No public figure should be accosted regardless of their political persuasion or beliefs simply due to the intolerance of another point of view."