Don Lemon agrees Trump played CNN ‘like puppets’ for ratings and publicity

Former CNN host Don Lemon agreed with comedian Trevor Noah in a new interview that President Donald Trump played his former network “like a puppet” in the promotion.

Noah’s “What Now?” In a podcast released Thursday while appearing on his show, Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, noted how Trump’s tweets will suddenly become “the biggest thing” in an increasingly tight news cycle.

“By the way, since you brought this up, did you folks at CNN ever know that he was playing with you like a puppet?” Noah asked. “Did you realize that at any point?

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“Oh, yeah,” Lemon replied. “Honestly, they might have known something somewhere in the beginning, but it was good for business. Remember? [Former CBS CEO] Les Moonves? he goes‘Trump is bad for the country but good for business.'”

Noah said former CNN chief Jeff Zucker called Trump a “media genius” for his efforts, saying “Donald Trump is many things, but what I will tell you is that he is a one-man ratings destruction machine.”

“I tell you, Jeff figured it out very early on, but he never told us what he was going to tell us,” Lemon said. “The only thing he said to us when we were interviewing was, ‘Let him talk and check the facts.’ it would be. You can ask him anything. It’s all about the way you ask the question.”

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Comedian Trevor Noah said this week that President Donald Trump played CNN “like a puppet” during his first campaign. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

He explained: “‘Trevor, what’s wrong with your hair?’ you can say. Or you can say: ‘Trevor, you look like you have really nice hair. What’s going on? ‘Have you changed anything?’ A very similar question. Or you compliment her before. ‘You are a marketing genius. That’s the only thing I don’t understand, because your supporters were not very welcome. What happened?’ And then you come in.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to CNN for comment.

A February study found that CNN lost more than 40% of its total day and prime time audience from 2017 to 2025, the first years of Trump’s two presidencies. During its 2016 presidential election coverage, CNN averaged 1.3 million primetime viewers and a total daily audience of 752,000, thanks to what was dubbed the “Trump coup.”

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CNN has seen a significant decline in ratings since President Donald Trump’s first term. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

But by 2025, CNN’s primetime audience had dropped to 573,000, leaving total daily viewers at just 432,000. From 2017 to 2025, CNN saw 45% of its prime time audience defect and lose 44% of total daily viewers.

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Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.