CNN host Don Lemon said Sen. Ted Cruz, by becoming a public official, had “signed up for” harassment by antifa activists and likened attacking lawmakers in any and every public space to the civil rights movement.

In a segment late Tuesday evening with fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo, who joined Cruz opponent Rep. Beto O’Rourke in decrying the attack on Mr. Cruz and wife Heidi at a D.C. restaurant, Mr. Lemon said the activists from Smash Racism DC had no choice.

Mr. Lemon explained that the Texas senator backs confirming Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh and supports policies that are “detrimental to people.”

“As a person of color I know that especially during the civil rights movement — and now — sometimes the only agency you have is to protest and to get in someone’s face,” he said.

“You don’t have any power when it comes to government and in society,” Mr. Lemon continued. “I don’t like it, but it is one reason I’m not a public official, that I’m not running for office. In a way, I think it goes with the territory. I don’t like that they were blocking his wife, but that’s what he signed up for.”

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