Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and comedian Kathy Griffin sparked controversy Tuesday after suggesting the 2024 election may not have been fair. On “The Don Lemon Show,” Griffin floated the idea that the election could’ve been rigged by Republicans. Surprisingly, Lemon didn’t push back.
Griffin introduced the idea during what she called her “tin foil hat moment.” She admitted the claim might upset some liberals but said her instincts were too strong to ignore. “I’m Kathy Griffin and I do not think Trump won in a free and fair election,” she said. “I believe there was tampering. I don’t know. I don’t know if it was the Elon [Musk] connection. I don’t know if it was just a few good old boys in the South who didn’t do, you know, I mean what they accuse us of.”
Lemon didn’t go as far as calling the election rigged, but he echoed Griffin’s suspicions. “You’re not far off,” Lemon said. “I mean I won’t say that I disagree with you… But I’m an evidence person. I’d like to see the evidence. I think something was off, and especially when someone said, ‘oh, we’ve got this.’ And, you know, how do you know that? How do we know we’ve got this? How do you know, or ‘I don’t need your vote’ or anything like that. It’s a little bit odd.”
Griffin jumped in again, quoting rhetoric she found unsettling. “Right. ‘This will be the last election. We won’t have any elections after this,’” she said. Lemon followed up with another quote, saying, “’Vote for me, and you won’t have to vote again anymore.’ And also, you know, as you said, every accusation is a confession.”
Griffin has long been a lightning rod for political controversy. She faced massive backlash in 2017 after posting a photo of herself holding a fake severed Trump head. The stunt led to a Secret Service investigation over potential threats to the president.
Her latest comments mirror those made earlier this year by actress Rosie O’Donnell. In March, O’Donnell also questioned Trump’s 2024 win and tied it to his relationship with Elon Musk. “I question why the first time in American history a president has won every swing state and is also best friends and his largest donor was a man who owns and runs the Internet,” O’Donnell said.
While Lemon didn’t make any direct accusations, his willingness to entertain Griffin’s claims is drawing new attention. Both figures now face mounting scrutiny from critics who say they’re pushing conspiracy theories—just from the opposite side of the political aisle.