If you ever needed a perfect snapshot of how disconnected the media elite are from reality, look no further than Don Lemon’s latest on-camera implosion in Chicago. Everyday Americans ended up schooling the former CNN anchor—now trying to reinvent himself as some kind of “street-level” truth-teller — after he tried to argue that crossing the border illegally isn’t actually a crime.
What followed was one of the most embarrassing public debates you’ll ever see. Lemon, visibly flustered, tried to twist the law into something that made sense only to him, while Chicago citizens — ordinary people who live with the consequences of illegal immigration — calmly and repeatedly exposed how absurd his logic was.
The humiliation began when a woman challenged his claim that crossing the border illegally isn’t a crime.
Lemon confidently insisted, “No, it’s not a criminal act.”
When she looked puzzled, he added, “It’s a misdemeanor.”
That’s when the conversation started to unravel. The woman pressed him: “So why are they being sent back and saying that they’re breaking the law?”
Lemon cut her off, claiming, “That’s the point. We don’t know if they’re breaking the law because they won’t tell. There’s no due process. Where’s the evidence? That’s the whole point.”
FLASHBACK: Don Lemon Goes on Unhinged, Racist Rant on Podcast
To most Americans, the idea that illegal border crossings aren’t “criminal” sounds absurd — and even the Chicago crowd wasn’t about to let him off the hook. A man nearby asked bluntly, “A misdemeanor is not a crime, is what you’re saying?”
“Yeah,” Lemon replied, doubling down.
“So, misdemeanor is not a crime?” the woman repeated, almost in disbelief.
“It’s not a criminal act, no,” Lemon insisted. “If you get charged with a misdemeanor, that’s not a criminal act.”
The woman fired back: “So I can’t be charged at all, then. if it’s not a criminal act?”
Trying to regain control, Lemon said, “Because we have different levels of crime. Everything is not the same.”
“So it is crime?” she asked again.
“No,” Lemon insisted. “You are breaking the law, but it’s not a criminal act.”
You can tell at this point he knew he was losing. This seems to happen a lot when he does his man-on-the-street interviews. He expects to find people who agree with him, and then when he’s challenged, he crumbles because he isn’t prepared to respond to challenges to his worldview.
“So it’s breaking the law?” a man asked Lemon.
“No,” Lemon replied, contradicting himself yet again.
“So a misdemeanor is not breaking the law?” the man pressed.
“No,” Lemon repeated.
That’s when the man decided to test Lemon’s logic with a simple example: “So if you’re speeding, drinking, you get pulled over, DUI—”
And Lemon fumbled. “That’s not a criminal a… well, no,” he said.
“It’s a misdemeanor, though,” the man reminded him.
“If you’re speeding, it’s a misdemeanor. Right,” Lemon said.
“So it’s still breaking the law,” the man concluded.
“Okay, well if you wanna—if you wanna qualify that. We’re doing semantics,” Lemon responded, clearly frustrated.
Lemon struggled to explain basic legal principles, fumbling through the difference between rules and laws. When a woman asked about getting pulled over, he stammered that “everything is not the same,” while a man pressed if it was actually the law. Lemon admitted only that border crossers were “breaking rules,” but “not necessarily breaking a law,” and finally acknowledged, “Then you get—you suffer the consequences.”
It was too late. By that point, the damage was done. Lemon had been arguing that a misdemeanor is both breaking the law and not breaking the law, that border crossers violate “rules” but not “laws,” and that consequences exist but shouldn’t really count. This wasn’t an intellectual debate—it was a meltdown.
Don Lemon gets absolutely destroyed by two people on the street in Chicago when he attempts to tell them that crossing the border illegally isn’t a crime.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 10, 2025
After getting utterly embarrassed, he declares: “You guys are getting things mixed up!"
Incredible. pic.twitter.com/JM02BWUMrI
The people of Chicago didn’t need a law degree to see through the nonsense. They just kept asking straightforward questions, and Lemon kept tripping over his own contradictions, because he cared more about the anti-Trump narrative he was pushing than about objective facts.
The government is still closed, thanks to Chuck Schumer and radical Democrats who put illegals ahead of Americans. Schumer even boasted, “every day gets better for us,” as millions suffer the effects of his shutdown. They own this disaster. Stay informed—join today with promo code POTUS47 for 74% off VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member