Don Lemon absent from CNN This Morning after claiming Nikki Haley is not ‘in her prime’

CNN anchor expressed his ‘regret’ over his comments, which he described as ‘inartful and irrelevant’

Don Lemon was absent from CNN This Morning, a day after he made comments about Nikki Haley’s age, which he later said he regretted.

On Thursday’s episode of the network’s morning show, the CNN anchor criticised Haley, who announced her presidential campaign this week, over her suggestion that politicians over 75 should have to undergo “mandatory mental competency tests”.

“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime,” Lemon said. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”

The comments prompted push back from Lemon’s co-host Poppy Harlow, who asked: “What are you talking about… wait, prime for what?”

Harlow then suggested that her co-anchor needed to clarify his meaning, asking: “Are you talking about prime for child bearing or are you talking about prime for president?”

On Friday morning’s episode, Harlow was seen on location in Salt Lake City, where she is covering NBA All-Star weekend, while co-anchor Kaitlan Collins was seated in the studio next to Lemon’s fill-in, Audie Cornish.

“Don has the day off,” Collins told viewers, after introducing Cornish. The anchor’s absence comes after the co-hosts discussed it on Thursday, when Collins said Cornish would be joining the anchors while Lemon was off and Harlow was on assignment. “And also, a special treat. Audie is going to be joining us tomorrow, Don’s going to be off, Poppy is going to be on assignment anchoring from Salt Lake City,” she said.

During Thursday’s episode, Lemon continued to suggest that the former governor of South Carolina shouldn’t be critical about the ages of politicians running for office because she “wouldn’t be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is,”despite Harlow’s clear discomfort.

“Don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying what the facts are!” he said, before urging viewers to “Google it”. “Google it, everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime, it’s 20s, 30s and 40s,” he continued.

In addition to voicing her concern with the comments during Thursday’s episode, Harlow also reportedly walked off set after the segment, according to The New York Post.

Amid backlash over the segment, Lemon said in a statement shared later in the day that he was regretful of his “inartful and irrelevant” comments, which some suggested were “misogynistic”.

“The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it,” he wrote on Twitter. “A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”

Following Lemon’s controversial comments, Haley responded to the CNN anchor on Twitter, where referred to him as a “sexist middle-aged CNN anchor”.

“To be clear, I am NOT calling for competency tests for sexist middle-aged CNN anchors; only for people who make our laws and are 75-plus,” she tweeted.

The Independent has contacted CNN for comment.