Don Lemon, the former host of CNN, has made a claim that there seemed to be something not quite right about Donald Trump’s second win in the presidential election, insinuating that the current president might have ‘manipulated’ the election.
Lemon’s bold suggestion came during a Tuesday episode of his hit podcast, The Don Lemon Show, featuring comedian and provocateur Kathy Griffin.
The discussion around the 2024 election victory of the 47th president was initiated by Griffin, aged 64, who suggested that Trump’s win was not a result of a legitimate and fair election process.
Prior to delving into her hypothesis, the renowned actress, who has won an Emmy Award, prefaced her remarks by humorously asking Lemon if he was prepared for a somewhat outlandish theory, to which he acknowledged being ready for.
She then laid out her view, which included an Elon Musk aspect to it amid the tech CEO’s war with Trump.
‘Are you ready for a tin foil hat moment?’ Griffin said.
‘Yes,’ Lemon, 59, replied.
‘Okay, I’m just going to be bold and say this. And you know, you can take issue with this all you want,’ she said. ‘I do not think he won in a free and fair election.’
Former CNN host Don Lemon (left) claimed ‘something was off’ in Donald Trump’s second presidential election victory during a Tuesday episode of his hit podcast, The Don Lemon Show, featuring comedian and actress Kathy Griffin (right)
Griffin kicked off the controversial discussion about the 47th president’s 2024 election victory suggesting Donald Trump (pictured) ‘did not win in a free and fair election’
After a dramatic pause from both of them, Griffin went on.
‘Yeah, I said it. I’m Kathy Griffin and I do not think Trump won in a free and fair election,’ she said. ‘I believe there was tampering.’
She then added that she didn’t know any specifics about what may have been done, saying, ‘I don’t know if it was the Elon connection. I don’t know if it was just a few good old boys in the South, and arguing that past claims of stolen elections by Trump and his supporters are evidence of their own guilt.
‘I know I’ll take heat for this and people are going to say I’m crazy,’ Griffin continued. ‘But I’ve been called crazy before, Don.’
To her surprise, the former television host didn’t push back. Instead, Lemon suggested she wasn’t ‘far off’ and said he ‘won’t say he disagrees’ with her shocking claim.
‘I’d like to see the evidence,’ Lemon added, before quickly qualifying, ‘I think something was off.’
Lemon then echoed one of Griffin’s earlier points. ‘As you said, every accusation is a confession’ – a reference to past GOP claims of election fraud, without noting how similar claims from Trump and his allies were once widely condemned as threats to democracy.
‘Vote for me and you won’t have to vote again anymore. And also, um, you know, as you said, every accusation is a confession,’ he said.
To her surprise, the former television host didn’t push back, instead, Lemon suggested she wasn’t ‘far off’ and said he ‘won’t say he disagrees’ with her shocking claim
The candid conversation comes as the president and his ‘first buddy’ Musk air out their dirty laundry in a very public feud which has seen both men take to social media to criticize the other
Griffin wrapped the conversation with a wry prediction that she might face backlash.
‘All right, well, let’s leave our viewers with that, because we can’t top that. I’m gonna get in trouble and I can’t wait.’
The candid conversation comes as the president and his ‘first buddy’ Musk air out their dirty laundry in a very public feud which has seen both men take to social media to criticize the other.
In the past few days, Musk has grown increasingly critical of the ‘big, beautiful bill’ Republicans are trying to pass through Congress – arguing it reversed his work with DOGE – but on Thursday, he took aim at Trump himself.
Trump took to Truth Social Thursday afternoon after first criticizing Musk in the Oval Office.
‘Elon was “wearing thin,” I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!’ Trump wrote.
The president then threatened to pull SpaceX and Tesla’s government contracts.
‘The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!’ Trump wrote.
Musk then taunted Trump to act.
‘This just gets better and better,’ he wrote. ‘Go ahead, make my day …’
Trump’s swipes came after Musk said the Republican would have lost the 2024 election had it not been for the world’s richest man’s help.
President Donald Trump (left) and Elon Musk (right) took their spectacular spat online Thursday after Trump was asked in the Oval Office about Musk’s recent criticism of Republicans’ ‘big, beautiful bill’
‘Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,’ Musk claimed. ‘Such ingratitude,’ the billionaire added on X.
Musk had publicly endorsed Trump on the heels of the July 13th assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania and poured $290 million of his fortune on the Republican’s campaign.
The billionaire also joined Trump on the campaign trail when he returned to the site of the Butler shooting in early October, a month before Election Day.
During the transition, Trump announced that Musk would run the newly created Department of Government Efficiency or ‘DOGE,’ allowing the businessman to take a chainsaw to alleged waste, fraud and abuse.
Those efforts didn’t play well with the American public, with Musk formally out last week.
Now the 53-year-old South African-born billionaire is asserting that he has more staying power in US politics than the 78-year-old president.
