Posted in: ABC, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: don lemon, Jimmy Kimmel, opinion

Don Lemon to Jimmy Kimmel: Trump Wants "To Instill Fear" with Arrest

Journalist Don Lemon discussed his arrest and the message the Trump Administration is trying to send during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.

Two of the Trump Administration's least favorite people had a chance to grab some one-on-one time on Monday night, when former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon checked in with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! Lemon addressed his recent arrest by Trump's Department of Justice over an incident in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where protestors entered a church whose pastor is also an ICE agent. Lemon was on hand to cover the protest as it was going down live, though the Trump Administration is claiming that Lemon was there as a protestor and that he broke federal law. Of course, Kimmel had his big face-off with the Trump Administration when his late-night talk show was briefly pulled for a joke that took aim at fans of the late Charlie Kirk. Since that time, Kimmel has become an even more frequent target of Trump's random social media rants. "I'm not going to let them steal my joy, but this is very serious. I mean, these are federal criminal charges," Lemon shared with Kimmel, describing how he was feeling about things at the moment. Here's a look at some additional highlights:

Don Lemon: "I Went There to Be a Journalist": "I'm in the middle of this, so I can't say a lot. There's a lot that I cannot say, but what I will say is that I'm not a protester. I went there to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening. I was following that one group around. And so that's what I did. I reported on them. But I do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist."

Don Lemon Describes Being Arrested: "They Want to Instill Fear": "I press the elevator button and then, all of a sudden, I feel myself being jostled and people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs. And I said, 'What are you doing here?' They said, 'We came to arrest you.' I said, 'Who are you?' And then they, like, finally identify themselves," Lemon shared. He added that he asked to see a warrant, but the officers didn't have one, so he was made to "wait" until an FBI agent produced a copy of the warrant on their phone.

"It had to be maybe a dozen people, which is a waste, Jimmy, of resources. Because I had told them weeks before, maybe once or twice… that I could just go in, and they didn't have to be — the folks that were just working there that day, and they didn't have to have all of these people following me around," Lemon added, agreeing with Kimmel's assessment that it was "a waste of resources" on the government's part. "You're right about more than just a waste of resources. They want that. They want to embarrass you. They want to intimidate you. They want to instill fear, and so that's why they did it that way," he responded.

Don Lemon Appreciates the Support: Lemon took a moment to thank "everybody for all of their support, especially the journalists, especially the people out there. I mean, it's been amazing just walking down the street or wherever I am and people will say, 'It's good to see you.' I said, 'Yeah, it's good to be seen,' but it's a lot of support."

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