A furious Poppy Harlow left the “CNN This Morning” set Thursday after a tense exchange with Don Lemon after he said GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was not in her prime, reported The Post.
In the segment, Don Lemon and co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins were discussing Haley’s proposal that candidates over the age of 17 take competency tests, given their age.
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According to the report, Harlow took a well-timed bathroom break and was followed into the restroom by co-host Kaitlan Collins, who recently has her own dispute with Lemon.
Lemon, Collins, and Harlow’s tense relationship have simmered for months.
Harlow returned to finish Thursday’s program but had looked stunned on the air when Lamon went on his head-scratching diatribe over Haley’s call for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75.
“This talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon said. “I think it is the wrong road to go down. She says that people, politicians, or something are not in their prime. Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime is her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he added.
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“Wait, Prime for what?” Harlow immediately called out the primetime host.
Lemon was quick to same himself by claiming he wasn’t stating his personal beliefs.
“It depends. It’s just like prime, if you look it up. If you Google, ‘when is a woman in her prime, it will say, ’20s, 30s and 40s.’”
Harlow responded, “40s. So I got another decade.”
Lemon added, “I don’t agree with that.”
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After receiving widespread outrage internally and on social media, Lemon issued a public apology.
Lemon wrote on Twitter, “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”
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In December last year, Lemon had shouted at Collins after she interrupted him on the air. The two have seldom shared the screen since then, though the 30-year-old Collins was there Thursday.
