Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was ridiculed by CNN host Don Lemon last week after she suggested that politicians over the age of 75 should undergo a mental competency exam.
While Lemon was roundly criticized for his remarks, that didn’t prevent the hosts of ABC’s “The View” from launching attacks of their own.
Whoopi Goldberg: “You’re not a new generation”
“You’re not a new generation, you’re 51. What are you talking about?” Fox News quoted Whoopi Goldberg as stating on Monday.
“It’s not a new generation. She may be younger than most of those people, but her rhetoric is the same. She’s saying the same BS,” Goldberg said of Haley.
Whoopi Goldberg echoes her pal Don Lemon’s “past her prime” attack on Nikki Haley.
“You’re not a new generation! You’re 51! What are you talking about?!” she sneered.
Adding: “She may be younger .. [but] he’s saying the same BS.” pic.twitter.com/3UXGSbIodz— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 20, 2023
Co-host Sunny Hostin spoke up as well, saying, “How dare she say that someone over 75 needs some sort of mental acuity test. I think she needs a mental acuity test.”
Lemon’s comments denounced as sexist
Interestingly, Lemon has not been seen on “CNN This Morning” since he accused Haley and other 40-plus-year-old women of not being in their “prime.”
Don Lemon: “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s…”
Poppy Harlow: “Are you talking about prime for like child bearing?”
“Don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying what the facts are! Google it!” pic.twitter.com/n1HmtkWTpl
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2023
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it,” Lemon said to “CNN This Morning” co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.
“Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s and 40s. I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politics are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve,” he continued, adding, “She would not be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.”
Lemon to undergo “formal training”
Lemon quickly tweeted out an apology in which he said, “A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally.”
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. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) February 16, 2023
The New York Post reported that Lemon also offered a “bizarre, rambling apology to coworkers,” insisting, “The people I am closest to in this organization are women.”
According to the Post, Lemon is expected to be back on the air Wednesday after agreeing to undergo “formal training.”