Don Lemon has appealed to Donald Trump to stop attacking the grieving widow of Sgt. La David Johnson who died fighting militants in Niger.
The CNN anchor was fighting back tears as he made an emotional plea to the president to ‘please stop’ the abuse towards Myeshia Johnson and demanded that he apologize to her for his tweet which ‘essentially called her a liar.’
‘Think of what Sgt. Johnson would want,’ he told Trump in his piece to camera. ‘You are putting his widow in the terrible position of having to fight for her dignity when she should be concentrating on taking care of herself, her health, her two children, and the one on the way.
‘Mr. Trump, please stop it. Please stop!’
CNN’s Don Lemon got chocked up on camera as he appealed to Donald Trump to ‘please stop’ bullying the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson
Trump (left) had responded to Sgt. Johnson’s pregnant, grieving widow Myeshia Johnson (right) on Twitter after she said that the president appeared to forget her husband’s name when he called to offer his condolences
Trump tweeted minutes later that he had a ‘very respectful conversation’ and said Sgt. Johnson’s name ‘without hesitation!’ – directly contradicting the widow
Trump had responded to Sgt. Johnson’s pregnant, grieving widow on Twitter after she said that the president appeared to forget her husband’s name when he called to offer his condolences. La David was one of the four American service members killed in an ISIS ambush Niger on October 4.
Trump almost immediately fired back.
‘I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!’ he wrote.
Lemon played a clip of Mrs Johnson’s interview with ABC where she said she had been moved to tears with anger and frustration at the president’s response.
The 51-year-old journalist, who had also mentioned at the beginning of his open letter that he’d also suffered very public criticism from Trump on camera and on Twitter, urged the president to imagine what it was like if Tiffany or Ivanka were in Mrs Johnson’s shoes.
The CNN anchor was fighting back tears as he demanded that Trump apologize to Mrs Johnson for his tweet which ‘essentially called her a liar’
He also raised the point that ‘the only Gold Star families you have attacked are people of color.’ ‘How does that look?’
‘If Myeshia Johnson is mad at you, take it,’ he continued. ‘Just as President Bush and others did. Take it. It’s part of what you signed up for when you decided to descend that escalator and throw your hat in the ring for president.
‘You’re commander in chief, the President of the United States of America, the greatest country on Earth. Act like it.’
He also raised the point that ‘the only Gold Star families you have attacked are people of color.’
‘How does that look?’
Lemon ended his emotion-fulled address by offering his own condolences to Myeshia on behalf of America ‘since the President seems incapable of finding the right words.’ And he urged Trump to follow his example.
Myeshia Johnson, wife of U.S. Army Sergeant La David Johnson, who was among four special forces soldiers killed in Niger, receives the flag which draped his coffin at a graveside service in Hollywood, Florida, October 21
‘We are all sorry for what you’re going through,’ he said. ‘La David, your hero husband, was an awesome soldier, a great man, and a great American.
‘He’s a role model to me. When his photos come on the TV screen or I see them in the newspapers I am incredibly proud of him and what he accomplished.
‘And to be extremely candid, as a black man, I am always looking for role models who look like me, and the latest one I found was your husband. May he rest in peace.
‘And may you find peace when you can finally get a good night’s sleep, knowing that this is America and we got your back.’