Chris Cuomo calls Don Lemon 'petty and small' for saying he wouldn't have shaken Trump's hand at Bush funeral

CNN host Chris Cuomo gave fellow host Don Lemon a little talking to Wednesday night after Lemon declared he wouldn't have shaken President Donald Trump's hand — like former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama did — at the funeral service for former President George H. W. Bush earlier in the day.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

During the transition between their shows, Lemon said, "Nope. Couldn't do it. I'm not that big a person. I would hope that I would be. But I can't 'fake the funk,' as they say. I'm not saying the Obamas did that."

Cuomo replied that he believed the Obamas were about "showing respect for something bigger than them" as opposed to being fake.

"Why would they do it when [Trump] doesn't?" Lemon retorted.

"Oh, come on," Cuomo said in response. "That's not the measure."

"What are you talking about, Chris?" Lemon answered back, his face wrinkling in annoyance. "They showed respect for the office. The way they conducted themselves in office. No scandal. There was no trash. There was no affair. They showed the ultimate respect for the office. They do not have to show respect for someone who does not respect them, someone who tweets out pictures of them behind bars ... You don't have to show respect for that kind of person. Let me show you what I would have done."

With that, Lemon called a staffer to his desk and had him put out his arm for a handshake —

Image source: YouTube screenshot

— and Lemon simply looked at him and turned his head away without a word.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"You're petty and small," Cuomo told Lemon after the mini skit.

"I'm not petty and small," Lemon replied. "That's real, brother. That's real."

"Real petty and small," Cuomo answered back.

The pair continued to banter back and forth, arguing the merits of being the "bigger" individual in public situations when emotions might tell one to behave in a less-than-cordial way.

"They're a lot classier than I am," Lemon noted of the Obamas.

Here's the clip. The relevant portion starts just after the 1-minute mark:

(H/T: Louder With Crowder)