During his broadcast on the evening of Monday, January 25, CNN's Don Lemon tore into Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri over the politician's complaints of being "canceled."
Hawley helped to incite the January 6 insurrection by trying to have votes from certain swing states decertified in Congress and by offering his support to the crowd of protestors who would storm the Capitol later that day.
The Senator's role in the mob's attempted overthrow of Democracy lead to the loss of his book deal, which he falsely claimed on Twitter was a violation of his Constitutional rights.
Shortly thereafter, Hawley also penned a New York Post editorial in which he claimed that he was "muzzled" and a victim of "cancel culture."
As a reminder, he wrote this in The New York Post, one of America's most widely-circulated publications.
Though Hawley's words were widely mocked, perhaps the harshest takedown came from Don Lemon, who said of Hawley on CNN:
"He's a victim. Josh Hawley. He's a victim of cancel culture. Oh wait a minute, he's on the TV, he's so canceled that he's on your television. He's trying to sell that claim to Fox News just tonight."
Lemon went on to say:
"Can't you see you're being played people if you fall for that B.S.? No one has muzzled Josh Hawley. What happened to Josh Hawley isn't cancel culture. It's called consequences."
"That's how the First Amendment works. Say whatever you want, but you gotta pay the price if you say something stupid, or you do something stupid or treasonous, or if you try to overturn a duly elected president, right?"
In perhaps the most memorable moment of the monologue, Lemon looked right into the camera and asked:
"He's a victim. Oh my god, he's being canceled. Poor baby, do you need a binkie?"
Finally, Lemon encouraged viewers to remember why Hawley lost his book deal in the first place.
"Don't fall for this, people. Think about the actions in the Capitol. Think about what happened, think about the people who died, think about the cops who were beaten by people. Think about all that."
Lemon drew near unanimous praise from Twitter for his no-nonsense analysis of Hawley's "tantrum."
As of the writing of this article, Hawley continues to insist he's being "muzzled" while on television programs, in printed editorials, on the floor of the Senate and wherever else he's been handed a platform to complain.
