CNN Producer Caught on Hot Mic Commentary Misleadingly Linked to Maxine Waters

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., appeared on ‘CNN NewsNight’ to discuss President Biden’s candidacy, as anchor Abby Phillip questioned the Democratic strategy to counter Trump.

A video circulating on Instagram misleadingly portrayed a moment involving Waters and CNN anchor Don Lemon alongside a voiceover referencing a ‘wig problem,’ even though the voice was not a CNN producer but a commentary by the account creator.

Footage of Lemon supposedly laughing at Waters adjusting her wig was taken from a February 2018 clip of ‘Don Lemon Tonight,’ long before Lemon left CNN in 2023.

During that original clip, political commentator Symone Sanders-Townsend’s remarks about Omarosa Manigault Newman elicited Lemon’s laughter and commentary on Black History Month.

Newman, a former ‘The Apprentice’ contestant, was dismissed from the Trump administration and later reflected negatively on her experience with the former president.