CNN host Don Lemon delivered a fiery rant Monday night against the protesters across the U.S. demanding the economy reopen despite the coronavirus pandemic, saying the demonstrators are putting front-line workers in danger just because they want to “play golf” and get “a haircut.”

“I have to keep my composure because I wanna keep my job,” Mr. Lemon said at the end of his show during his nightly handoff with fellow anchor Chris Cuomo.

“It makes me so angry because every night when I leave this studio and when I come in, there’s an army of people through New York City — an army of immigrants and people of color and poor people who are keeping this city running,” he said, “They are disinfecting offices, they are cleaning people, they are changing bedpans, and they are working. And those people are out there complaining because they don’t have haircuts? Who the hell do you think you are?”

He continued, “And if you’re so upset about it, you should be mad at the president, because he’s the one who’s supposed to help your small businesses. I understand that you’re hurting, I understand that people are hurting, yes, a lot of people are hurting, but there are people who are front-line workers who have to get out there.”

Mr. Lemon went on to criticize the protesters who are demonstrating while openly carrying firearms.

“You’re slapping the faces of the people — the health care workers — who put their lives on the line every day because you want a haircut, you want to go play golf,” he said. “And you’re out there with guns? With weapons strapped to your chest, saying you’re fighting against the people trying to tell you to stay at home, trying to save your lives? You’re upset with those people? In the meantime, there are people who are keeping your cities going, keeping your loved ones alive, and you want to get a haircut? Who the hell do you think you are? What is wrong with people? I don’t understand. What is wrong with people? Stay at home!”

Protests sprang up in states across the country over the weekend with demonstrators, sometimes armed, demanding that stay-at-home restrictions be lifted and nonessential workers go back to work during the pandemic. President Trump has signaled his support for the protesters and said they acted responsibly by maintaining a reasonable distance from one another.

Mr. Lemon tied the situation to the national anthem protests led by Colin Kaepernick, recalling that in 2017, the president loosely referred to kneelers as a “son of a bitch” and said they should be fired from the NFL. Mr. Lemon said that if people support the reopen protests, then they should also support the national anthem protests or else they’re hypocrites.

“You have the right to protest, everyone does,” he said. “But I don’t want to hear from those people who are out there protesting with guns, right? And that is threatening, a threatening look for people, you’re protesting with guns — don’t criticize people who are taking a knee at a ballgame. And people are saying ‘I don’t want people protesting at a ballgame’ when people are peacefully protesting — don’t give me that when you’re out there protesting with guns and saying, ‘I want to get back to work! I want my liberty!’ … Don’t be a hypocrite, stand up for those people as well.

“I’m so mad today,” he added. “The majority of the people in this country aren’t for what the folks are doing, they aren’t for going back to work. They want more testing.”

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