White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre REFUSES Interview With CNN's Don Lemon: Source
Apr. 21 2023, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to appear on CNN This Morning if it meant that controversial anchor Don Lemon would be interviewing her, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Biden press secretary agreed to appear on the network's morning show but reportedly under the condition that she wouldn't have any interaction with Lemon.
Karine's alleged request came as Lemon swapped his anchor chair for the hot seat as he battles accusations of misogynistic behavior toward female colleagues on the heels of a blowout fight with cohost Kaitlan Collins.
According to an insider, it was made it clear to the network that the press secretary preferred to not speak exclusively with Lemon.
"The White House asked for her not to be interviewed by Don," the source told the Post.
A second source echoed the remark and claimed that Karine "refused" to appear on the show at all if it meant an interview with the troubled anchor.
On Thursday, it appeared that Karine and the White House's wishes were granted — and she interviewed with Lemon's co-anchor, Poppy Harlow.
While Collins was called up to the 9 PM slot to test her primetime capabilities, Harlow was selected as the CNN representative to interview Karine as staff has reportedly been forced to "produce around" Lemon.
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After a series of blunders on-air and off, Lemon has caused quite the headache for his network. "He’s just a constant f------ distraction," one insider said of Lemon.
A rep for Karine did not provide details on what drove the press secretary's refusal to speak with Lemon.
"We’re not going to detail our conversations with any media outlets, but as always the anchor is the network’s call and not ours," a rep for the White House Press Secretary said about the CNN interview.
Additionally, a rep for the left-leaning network stated, "the decision to have Poppy conduct the interview was made independently by CNN."