Don Lemon apologizes for 'sexist' and 'completely offensive' comment about Nikki Haley and women in their prime

CNN host Don Lemon issued an apology for comments that were deemed "sexist" and "completely offensive" that he made against Nikki Haley and women who he considered to be out of their prime.

On Wednesday, Haley made a veiled slight against former President Donald Trump, 76, and President Joe Biden, 80. Haley called for "mandatory mental competency tests" for politicians over the age of 75.

"America is not past our prime — it's just that our politicians are past theirs," Haley said during a rally in South Carolina that launched her 2024 White House bid.

"If you're tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation," Haley added.

Speaking about Haley's remarks, Don Lemon strangely talked about the prime ages of women.

"This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable," Lemon said during "CNN This Morning." "I think it’s the wrong road to go down."

"She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s," the 56-year-old Lemon said of the 51-year-old Haley.

Co-host Poppy Harlow was befuddled by Lemon's comments.

Harlow asked Lemon, "Wait. Prime for what?"

"That’s not according to me," Lemon deflected.

Harlow again asked, "Prime for what?"

Lemon replied, "It depends, it’s just like, prime."

Lemon attempted to blame Google for his comments.

"If you look it up, if you Google ‘when is a woman in her prime’ it’ll say 20s, 30s, and 40s," Lemon argued. "I'm not saying I agree with that."

Harlow questioned Lemon, "Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or are you talking about prime for being president?"

Lemon said, "Don't shoot the messenger."

"I'm just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s, and 40s," Lemon backtracked. "I'm just saying, Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that [politicians] are not in their prime, and that they need to be in their prime when they serve, because she wouldn’t be in her prime, according to Google or whatever it is."

Haley responded to Lemon's comments by saying, "Liberals can't stand the idea of having competency tests for older politicians to make sure they can do the job. BTW it's always the liberals who are the most sexist."

Former CNN correspondent Kate Bennett blasted Lemon.

"This is sexism, and completely offensive. And it’s amplified by the 'sets off' description below," Bennet wrote on Twitter. "Can women not respond to a boneheaded statement without being accused of overreaction? Also, who over the age of 14 uses 'google it!' as a defense."

Lemon issued an apology on Thursday.

"The reference I made to a woman's 'prime' this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it," Lemon tweeted. "A woman's age doesn't define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day."

"CNN This Morning" is languishing in the ratings, notching the network’s lowest-rated morning show in nearly a decade.

The Wrap noted last week, "Since its Nov. 1, 2022 launch, 'CNN This Morning' — hosted by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins — has drawn in the lowest viewership among adults 25-54, the key demographic for cable news, and the second-lowest total viewership among each iteration of the network’s morning programming since New Day' was launched in June 2013, according to Nielsen data."

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