The Don Lemon Show
LEMON DROP | Tulsi Gabbard, Markwayne Mullin & Right Wing Media Drama!
18 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What happened during Markwayne Mullin's confirmation hearing?
Let's start with Mark Wayne, I think, because that one's the most, most of it's happened already. You know, my father taught me never to trust a man with two first names. So I don't trust this guy at all. I don't know if you saw Rand Paul really got in his face this morning over Mark Wayne Mullen basically encouraging political violence. So it seems like there's a bit of unhappiness in the tent.
I assume that Mullen is on track to get confirmed because he's already got John Fetterman lined up to vote for him because Fetterman can't, even pretend like he's not just caucusing with the Republicans at this point. So I imagine they have the inside straight, but the guy is no different, in my opinion, than Kristi Noem. They're basically show horses.
Trump likes them because they look good on TV. I think Mark Waymo might be the only member of the Senate who doesn't have a college degree. I don't even know if he has a GED, to be honest with you, but I don't think he's qualified for the job and he'll be an absolute disaster. Yeah, the thing is, why him is my question. I don't understand why him.
And I guess, you know, the answer to that question is it's this administration, and that's why. But I really don't understand why they would nominate him. But look, they had Kristi Noem in that position as well. So that should answer just about every question that you have about this. Look, Noem was a disaster, but she's a former governor. She had some gravitas to her.
Mark Wayne's a senator, but he's a freshman senator. He's relatively new. He has zero accomplishments. So to me, it's actually a step backwards from Noem. Now, maybe he'll play his cards a little bit smarter and he won't be... having sex with Corey Lewandowski on a government plane that they were... ...is lost on this administration.
There's nothing about Mullen that screams Homeland Security, ICE, DHS, TSA. He doesn't know what he's doing, and he's basically admitted that. He literally said in his hearing earlier today that he's not a particularly smart human being. So I just don't... I don't understand what they're doing.
They got to find people that actually know what the fuck they're doing so that they can govern this nation. I'm going to try something here that I've never tried before. So stand by. And that is this. Can you see what I have on the screen? I can. I don't think sound doesn't work for this, though, if you're going to play the clip. There's no sound. Can you hear it? There's no sound.
Sound doesn't work yet on subsec. That's crazy. What's up, Substack? But anyway, that's the hearing right there. And that is Rand Paul really getting into Mark Wayne Mullen's You Know What. But there's no love lost. I mean, I thought, you know, Mark Wayne Mullen actually had very good answers, right? They were very sort of
You know, I'm willing to forgive and, you know, be a better person, a better man. And my response to that would be, well, why didn't you do that before you needed my confirmation for a job? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Well, I think the fix is in for the Republicans. Like, this is a dog and pony show for them. They're going to ask the simple questions.
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Chapter 2: Why is there controversy surrounding Tulsi Gabbard's testimony?
She's the governor. She's the governor of Maine. She was recruited by Chuck Schumer. So. Right. And she's also pushing 80, so she's quite old. So she's got some stuff she's got to overcome. So I don't know. I'm not working in that race at all, and I'm very grateful not to.
I don't have to work for the candidate with the accidental Nazi tattoo, and I don't have to work for the 80-year-old governor running. So I'm good. Yeah, I think like right now, look, I don't obviously I don't condone Nazism or misogyny or any of that. But I'm doing this as just analysis. I think that voters are tired of the canceling people for what they did in their past.
And I mean, look at what Donald Trump has done in his past. And not that that makes it right, but he's president of the United States. And all you got to do is look at the E.J. and Carol of it all. It's awful.
And so I think if you have a good candidate that's going to get your views and your beliefs and your ideology or whatever it is across people, I believe this time people are going to overlook a lot of things. And we may return to the
normal later but 2026 i think you're right people are pissed off but they're not pissed off is mark wayne let's get back to mark wayne okay is mark wayne gonna he's gonna be confirmed correct yeah yeah he's gonna be confirmed i'd be shocked like the fix is in the republicans are gonna stay united on that maybe he loses rand paul maybe he loses tom tillis but that's not gonna be enough why though
Why did they vote to confirm Kristi Noem? I mean, why? And some Democrats did, right? Well, you know, so the lazy man's argument is that the Republicans are all scared of Donald Trump so they won't stand up to him. But I think at this point we have to acknowledge this is what they want. Like, these are the people they want in charge of our government.
These are the policies that they want enacted. They want ICE kidnapping people and wearing masks and murdering people on American streets. They want... I think they want this government shut down. They think it's good for them. I just... This is what they want and this is who they are. So we should accept that that's what it is.
So same with Fetterman because Fetterman is going to vote for Mark Wayne Mullen too. So they've got that vote already on lock. So, by the way, everybody, smash the screen, the hearts, the like, the thumbs up, whatever it is, whatever platform that you are watching this on.
And because it affects the algorithm, more people become aware of our conversation and our sub stack, our YouTube or our Twitch or whatever it is that we're on. I'm going to just put some stuff in here. I'm going to ask you this. You said you're not that involved in it, but this is what I'm going to read some stuff for me. RP to 2112 says, why is everyone pissed at Schumer for recruiting mills?
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Chapter 3: How is right-wing media reacting to the latest political drama?
Some quick questions for you, Mike. This is a very simple one. Why are there people running for governor of California? Where is Newsom going? He's termed out. Yeah, he's termed out. He's termed out. And then apparently half of the California Democratic Party is running in the primary right now. Yeah. Eric Swalwell's in there, right? Yeah. Swalwell, Steyer, Katie Porter.
I can't even, I'd be here all day if I started naming them. Who's the favorite there? If I had to put money on somebody, it would be Eric Swalwell. And then probably a Republican eking their way through. I'm really worried that two Republicans will eke through in the general, which would be a disaster. It would also be kind of funny, but like it would be a disaster for the state of California.
But I, if I had to guess, it's going to be either Swalwell or Steyer would be the two. Maybe Katie Porter, but I just don't think it happens for Porter. She's burned too many vines. Yeah, I don't either. Yeah, yeah. Jill B. asked that question. The other question is, oh, someone, a statement. Hope Criscione, I think it is, says, I agree, Mike, speaking as a dim in her 70s.
I think she agrees with your statement about why nominate someone or choose someone in her 70s who is establishment. Yeah. Um, I just think it's like, well, before you go to the next question, I don't want to be ageist. You don't want to be ageist. Right. I think about like, it's an actuarial table. Okay. We're going to hand a, hand a Senate seat to a 78 year old person. I got an actuarial table.
Like they'll be dead by the end of their term. Right. So I just like worry about stuff like that happening. And when we have a missing Senator. we can't govern under the next Democratic president. So I get nervous about that stuff. It's why I don't understand why the Republicans ran Chuck Grassley again, because Grassley's older than the invention of the chocolate chip cookie.
And so if he croaks tomorrow, they can't govern. And that's just as dangerous territory to me. Well, here's the thing. Okay. And then, cause you said, I don't, you don't want to come off as ageist. I'm tired of like having to do that. I'm tired of people. I don't want to be like, you know, the manosphere of like, I want to say the R word.
I'm not saying that, but I think everyone knows considering your history, uh, you have a record, you have, you know, You've been out there. People know that you're not an ageist. Especially if you're a political consultant and you are talking head, you're speaking about, you're doing analysis. It's not always your personal opinion.
And so to say that the Democratic electorate is tired of having older people who don't represent the majority of the country in office, I don't think that that's ageist at all. You're just responding to reality. I don't think it is either, but I always just like to carve out enough room for people to understand what my actual point is, because this maybe it's just the politician in me.
This shit just happens a lot. It's like last night I was calling out AIPAC for spending so much money to try to twist these Illinois primaries. And I had people in my feeds being like, why don't you put on a white hood and just admit that you hate Jews? And I'm like, I don't I'm not anti-Semitic. I just don't like what AIPAC is doing. And I don't like this war in Iran.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of Markwayne Mullin's potential confirmation?
And I like Jasmine Crockett. I'm not shitting on her, but I think their campaign was not as great as it could have been. I think she took guts. We had this discussion. Yeah. We said there's racism out there and there's real anti-Semitism out there. That's true. Right. But not everything is that. Yeah. So, but then what do we do in this moment? Because there are, there are a lot of people who are,
who are feeling that way in this moment, especially what's happening with Iran right now. And it's hard to have a discussion about that. I had a very interesting interview with a young man on the streets yesterday in New York City. And I think he was probably Israeli. He had an accent. And, you know, I asked him, I said, should we be in Iran? And he goes, absolutely, we should be in Iran.
And then he went on and he was very pro-Israeli. very pro-Israel. And when I... Just some of the comments about his statements to me were, you know, interesting to read, you know? I mean, I think the answer is to try to hear each other out, right? Like, I think social media makes it super easy to be at each other's throats all the time.
And that's the tension that they want to create because it's good for, you know, engagement and clicks and selling ads and shit like that. But I think... the more that like you having a conversation with a guy that you disagree with, I think is good, even if you don't find a place to meet in the middle. And I think the other thing too is like, I oppose this war in Iran. I think it's illegal.
I think it's immoral. I think it's not in the best interest of the United States. But I try to separate out the government of its people and its people, because I don't want people blaming me for what's happening in this country, what Donald Trump is doing to people at home and abroad. So I think the same about the people of Israel. And I think we get trapped into this.
You got to pick the Israelis or you got to pick the Palestinians. And I'm like, no, you know what? They're both oppressed people. Now it's different types of oppression. I don't think the Palestinians should be dealing with a genocide and a starvation crisis and being oppressed by the Israeli government.
But like the Israelis want to have an election to kick Bibi Netanyahu out because he's corrupt. And I think a lot of them don't want this war either. So- But that process isn't playing out. And Trump is mega unpopular in the United States.
So we just got to add a little bit of nuance back to our conversation so we can get back to a place where we don't hate each other for half a take that we understand. Let's talk about Joe Kent then, because we were talking about anti-Semitism. Joe Kent is a raving anti-Semite. I mean, yes, he is. Right. And he is a very close buddy buddy with Nick Fuentes, who is a racist as well.
Although they had a falling out, though. They had a falling out because when Kent ran for Congress in Oregon, he disavowed Fuentes. And then yesterday, Fuentes was shitting on him and being like, look who needs my help now. Yeah. So what happens with this? Tulsi Gabbard is speaking now as we are taping this, as we are live and also taping this.
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Chapter 5: How does the political landscape affect upcoming elections?
But I mean, why are all these repugnant people fighting? Why is she accusing someone of having a micropenis? What if someone came back and accused her of having, you know, something about her body part? Then she would say that this person was a misogyny or sexist or whatever. Like, why does it have to go there? Well, in MAGA world, you're allowed to question somebody's masculinity.
That's their favorite thing to do. I don't know if I ever showed you this, but I was on Fox News. I was on Jesse Waters' show and I got done with my hit. And then they cut to Stephen Miller. And after I'm gone, Stephen Miller goes, you know, I'm going to take away that Democrats man card because he supported Kamala Harris in the general election.
I'm sitting in the waiting room being like, plug me back in, fuckers. Like, plug me back in. Like, let's go. I want to fight this guy. But Did you go back in? No, they wouldn't let me go back in. But, you know, it was... That's what those guys think masculinity is, right? They think it's like cheap shots on their way out the door. It's quote tweets.
Like, real masculinity is building stuff and taking care of people and protecting the people in your lives. And they don't understand this at all, but it's cheap. And so I think for Megyn Kelly, like, she... she needled Mark Levin exactly the way that he needed to be leveled. It was actually pretty smart. But it's gross. I mean, it's all a sideshow to them.
I mean, these guys care about attention. And I don't even really think they care about the war in Iran, what they actually care about is their audiences. So I think Megyn Kelly knows, hey, my audience is going to be anti-war because that's how I built it. So I've got to stick there. You know, I think Shapiro knows that he can keep his audience together and drag them wherever they need to go.
So I just I don't think there's any principle here. But again, I think there's a lot of Americans in the middle who are trying to figure out whether or not they support this conflict or not. So I'll use them as useful idiots to highlight how people are opposing this war. Ah, interesting. So I was speaking to... Did we lose you, Don, or did you lose me? What, am I gone? No, you're back.
You're back. Yeah, I think it's you. I think it's you. I think that you're causing the problem today. You're the problem person. It's me. Hi, I'm the problem. It's me. So you think Mullen will be...
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Chapter 6: What are the challenges facing Democratic candidates in 2024?
Will be confirmed. Yes. Kristi Noem basically has a, she's just a figurehead right now. Nothing's going to happen to her. She's not going to have any real power. Well, there's a criminal, I mean, Democrats filed a criminal referral to the DOJ for her. I don't think the DOJ will do anything about it.
But if I were Kristi Noem, I'd be worried about that when Democrats take back office if she doesn't get a pardon. And what about Pam Boddy? She's going to speak soon as well. April. Aren't she? And I thought that she and Todd Blanche were on the Hill today doing something. Are they on the Hill today? I thought they got subpoenaed and it wasn't for a couple weeks.
No, Blanche and Bondi are briefing members today on the Hill, I hear. On what? Anyways. On Epstein? I don't know. Maybe it is on Epstein. So we'll talk about it. Thank you, sir. How's the Dow today? Is the Dow under 50,000? The Dow. The Dow. You want to find out where the Dow is? Let's see where the Dow is. The Dow's at 50,000. The Dow is at 46,000 and it is down. There you go. Sorry.
We can talk about Epstein. Yeah. Thank you, sir. I'll see you later. Thank you. I'll see you next week, buddy. Thanks so much for watching, everybody. Your support means the world to us. Don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe so you never miss a show. We're live every weekday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time with new clips dropping at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
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