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"You will go down in history as the worst of the worst and some day in the future, that will be all anyone remembers of you: that you were awful, terrible, the worst President, and that you won by an electoral fluke,"
On Wednesday, many in the nation sat in shock and horror as the natural maturation of tensions stoked by four years of proliferating lies and conspiracy theories at the highest levels spilled into the nation's Capitol building. A mob, called to assemble by Donald Trump via Twitter, gathered en mass and then proceeded to physically break into sections of the government building in an effort to halt the process of certifying the duly elected President-elect, Joe Biden. This, by definition, is an act of treason. On Wednesday night, after the Capitol had been secured following the group breaking windows, and looting offices as well as the chamber itself, CNN's Don Lemon gave his take on the situation.
"President Trump, your legacy awaits you. It really does," he began in his Don's Take segment, titled "Trump's Presidency Is in Flames." "The leader not of the greatest nation on earth, but of a mob insurrection to destroy the Capitol and our democracy as you sat and you watched it on TV, and according to reports you seemed to take pleasure in it." Some reports said that when Washington D.C. initially requested support from the National Guard, Trump had that request denied. Later, the National Guard was deployed, reportedly due to a Mike Pence directive -- Pence was notably in the Capitol building that was under siege.
\u201cIM SCREAMING\u201d— Alex Newell (@Alex Newell) 1609996287
\u201cTELL EM DON LEMON! @donlemon\u201d— Ashley (@Ashley) 1609990769
"You will go down in history as the worst of the worst and some day in the future, that will be all anyone remembers of you: that you were awful, terrible, the worst President, and that you won by an electoral fluke," Lemon continued. That fluke is likely the Electoral College as Trump lost the popular vote by millions to Hillary Clinton in 2016. "Your complete and utter disgrace is what people will remember and you are a complete and utter disgrace."
Lemon continued, detailing that the Capitol was put under curfew as a result of the insurrection and the certification would continue. Lemon referred to it all as "one of the darkest days in American history."
\u201cOh Don, he is speaking tonight!! @donlemon \ud83d\udc99 #cnn #donlemon\u201d— Joshua (@Joshua) 1609990869
"Domestic terrorists, that's what you are, domestic terrorists who were goaded on by the president into an attack on our very own Capitol," he said of the group. "We saw this coming, we've been warning you about it for years now." Lemon went further, describing it justly as an "attempted coup" that we should not be surprised by.
But he also had words for some Republicans and Trump's other cronies.
"In 2021 when a scaffold with a noose was erected beside the steps of the Capitol, you do not get to pretend that you didn't support this or say that this wasn't the side that you were on. That you didn't know what could happen. That you didn't align yourself with the man that told you, all along, exactly what he was about, and exactly what he was about to do. You tried to play games with the intentions of a mad man and thanks to you, we have all lost. Shame, shame, shame on you, forever."
Congress certified the Joe Biden, Kamala Harris victory early Thursday.
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Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
