CNN anchors Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo had an emotional interaction late Wednesday after an explosive device mailed to the network’s New York offices forced the building to evacuate earlier in the day.
“I’m pissed. You know why I’m pissed? I could have been mourning you. You could have been mourning me. We could have lost our colleagues,” Lemon said to Cuomo on air.
Lemon, who has been a vocal critic of President Trump and his rhetoric, also argued the president didn’t have the “fortitude to own his part in all of this.”
{mosads}Authorities intercepted a number of suspected explosives late Tuesday and Wednesday that were mailed to former President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a number of other prominent Democratic Party members.
Suspicious packages were sent to former Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), while another package addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan arrived at CNN’s offices in New York, forcing its evacuation.
Brennan has appeared regularly on the network but is a contributor on MSNBC.
Trump responded on Wednesday afternoon by calling for unity, condemning the attacks and calling for a return to civil discourse during an event on opioids at the White House.
At a rally Wednesday night, the president called the attempted bombings “an attack on democracy itself.”
“We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony,” Trump said, without naming those who were targeted. “We can do it. We can do it. It’ll happen.”
The president did not specifically reference himself or any particular politician who has used divisive rhetoric, instead speaking generally.
“Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective,” he said. “The language of moral condemnation and destructive routines, these are arguments and disagreements that have to stop.”
“The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostilities and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,” he said.
Lemon objected to the president’s statement.
“He blamed the victim tonight,” Lemon said. “For him to sit there and blame us. We’re the victims here.”
“And only us,” Cuomo chimed in.
“It’s disgusting,” Lemon replied.
“I guess that he somehow thinks the victim in all this is him,” Cuomo said.
Trump has repeatedly clashed with members of the media as well as whole outlets, such as CNN, employing the term “fake news” as he did in a tweet Thursday morning.