Elon Musk criticized Don Lemon, a former CNN host, over race and gender politics. This happened in the debut episode of "The Don Lemon Show."
Musk ended his partnership with Lemon's show after an interview that altered their relationship. Despite the fallout, Lemon aired the interview, which included debates on identity politics.
Lemon explained "woke" as being aware of societal inequities. Musk agreed but argued against making every issue about race, calling it harmful.
“What future do we want? Is this something we want to make, fight about, constant dialogue forever?” Musk asked. “Or do we wanna, do we wanna say, let’s just move on and treat everyone, you know, according to just who they are as an individual.”
“I agree with you on that. That’s the ideal. But what the evidence shows is that that’s not what’s actually in practice,” Lemon said.
“I think we’re doing better than anywhere else,” Musk replied.
“That’s true, I agree with that,” Lemon said. “But that doesn’t mean anything, that doesn’t mean a lot to a whole lot of people who aren’t able to take advantage of the opportunities that you were able to take advantage of just because of the color of your skin,” Lemon said.
Musk criticized the tendency of some to claim victimhood based on race or gender. Lemon responded, sharing his experience with discrimination and calling it dismissive to ignore such realities.
Musk clarified, insisting on the importance of moving beyond race and gender to focus on individual character and abilities.
