CNN host lambasted for saying presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, isn’t ‘in her prime’ | CBC News

Amid ongoing criticism over his comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, Don Lemon was absent Monday from CNN This Morning. Co-host Poppy Harlow told viewers that, “Don has the day off.”

Lemon has not been on the air since Thursday, when during a discussion on CNN This Morning about the ages of politicians, he said that the 51-year-old Haley was not “in her prime.” A woman, he said, was considered in her prime “in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.”

Challenged by Harlow, Lemon added: “Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are.”

Lemon, 56, has since apologized, but he has been widely condemned, including by CNN CEO Chris Licht. CNN reported that Licht chastised Lemon during an editorial call Friday, saying his remarks were “unacceptable” and “unfair to his co-hosts.”

A CNN spokesperson had no immediate comment on whether Lemon would be back Tuesday.

Haley responds to ‘sexist’ remarks

Haley weighed in on Lemon’s remarks on Twitter.

“I’ve always made liberals’ heads explode. They can’t stand the idea of a conservative minority woman running for president,” she wrote.

In another tweet, she wrote that it’s “always the liberals who are the most sexist.”

Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, announced her candidacy for president last Tuesday, becoming the first major challenger to former president Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.

If elected, Haley would be the nation’s first female president and the first U.S. president of Indian descent.