Is The US Ready For A Black, Gay President? – Don Lemon Eyes A 2028 White House Run
Don Lemon says he’s seriously considering a run for US president in 2028, and he wants everyone to know he isn’t joking. The former CNN anchor floated the idea on the podcast Can’t Be Censored, and when the hosts assumed he was kidding, he shut that down fast. “No, I’m being totally serious,” he said.
“People keep asking me to do it,” Lemon said. “I actually think I would be a really good president of the United States.” He isn’t impressed by the names already circling 2028. “I look around and I see the folks who are possibly in the running, and some of them are impressive,” he said. “Many of them, most of them, are not.”
He’s Floated This Before
This wasn’t a slip. Back in April, Lemon raised the same idea on Pod Save America and framed it as a fair question. “If Donald Trump can be president, why can’t I be president?” he said, adding that he “could definitely run this country better than Donald Trump.” There’s one catch. “I probably would have to become a Democrat,” he admitted.
If he does run, Lemon wants it funded by ordinary people rather than big donors.
“I would rather the people of the United States say, ‘That’s the guy we want,’ and give five or 10 dollars,” he said.
He’s not locking in a date yet. “As we get closer to 2027 or 2028, I’ll see.” So, is this a real bid or just great podcast content? Right now it’s hard to say.
Lemon spent 17 years at CNN before leaving in 2023. He came out as gay in 2011 and is married to real estate agent Tim Malone. These days he runs his own show online and keeps a high profile. In January 2026, federal authorities arrested him over a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Minnesota church, and he later pleaded not guilty to civil rights charges.
Whether any of this becomes a real campaign is another question. Lemon has the name recognition and the platform. What he doesn’t have yet is a party, a policy agenda, or an actual announcement.
For now, he’s a former newsreader saying out loud what plenty of commentators only think.
