CNN host Don Lemon called on Americans to shun "stupid" unvaccinated people on Wednesday, saying they should be left behind because they were "harmful to the greater good."
During a discussion with fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo at the start of his show, Lemon blasted those choosing not to take the vaccine because they weren't sure about its contents by oddly comparing it to Botox injections and people being unaware of what was in them, but taking them regardless.
"I think we have to stop coddling people when it comes to … the vaccines, saying ‘Oh you can’t shame them. You can’t call them stupid.' Yes, they are. The people who aided and abetted Trump are stupid because they believed his big lie," Lemon said, making an unclear comparison between former President Donald Trump and ongoing vaccine hesitancy within some communities. "The people who are not getting vaccines who are believing the lies on the internet instead of science, it's time to start shaming them or leave them behind."
Lemon claimed that people didn't feel the same way about other vaccines, such as the measles vaccine, and that the only difference was their politics today. Coronavirus vaccines have proven highly effective in preventing severe illness from COVID-19.
"People talk about, well I don’t know what’s in the shot. I don’t know what’s in that shot … Do you know what they get shots in nowadays? In their rear ends. They’re getting shots to make it bigger. They’re getting shots in their face. They don’t know what's in Botox. They don’t know what's in this stuff," he said.
Lemon seemed to admit that he also received at least one previous Botox injection before saying that there was nothing wrong with taking one.
"Stop it. Stop it with the ignorance. And we have to stop saying, you know, you have to listen to people. No, you don’t. These people are being harmful to the greater good," he added. "You don’t have to listen to a minority of people who are being harmful to the greater good, and who are not acting on logic, reason and science."
Earlier this month, Lemon erupted on unvaccinated people who were going to hospitals and taking up resources that should be meant for vaccinated people who were "playing by the rules."
"It is putting a stress and strain on the system and people all over this country because some people who are so selfish are saying it’s my freedom and I don’t want to get vaccinated," Lemon had said. "Fine. But think about someone other than yourself. And if you don’t believe that COVID is real and that it can affect your health and possibly take your life, don’t go to the hospital then when you get sick."