Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tried to explain the danger of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices to former CNN host Don Lemon during a recent interview for Lemon’s now-canceled news show on X, formerly Twitter. But everything the tech industry titan had to say went right over the mainstream corporate news journalist’s head.
An astounding clip from the video has racked up millions of views on X, and conservatives cannot believe Lemon could be as obtuse as he appears in it.
Elon Musk tries to explain how lowering the standards for doctors could result in more deaths.
Don Lemon is unable to grasp the concept.
This entire exchange is incredible. pic.twitter.com/QJ3efuvVAb
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 18, 2024
“Most doctors now are White and there are lots of mistakes in medicine, so you’re saying that my doctors have bad medical care?” Lemon asked. “I’m trying to understand your logic here when it comes to DEI because there’s no actual evidence of what you are saying. “
“Let’s say a surgeon in training is asked to do a series of operations under the supervision of a senior surgeon, and they get a bunch of those operations wrong,” Musk explained. “If that happens and if they are still approached to be a surgeon, the probability that someone will die — I think — at some point is high.”
“Okay, I understand that, but that’s a hypothetical. That doesn’t mean it’s happening,” Lemon objected.
“I didn’t say it’s happening,” Musk replied.
“You didn’t say it was happening?” Lemon responded.
“I said it will,” Musk answered. “I said if we lower standards, people will die.”
How I felt listening to Don Lemon during this exchange pic.twitter.com/ErJB1t1P7J
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) March 18, 2024
“Okay, if you look at the history of the medical industry, especially when it comes to Black Americans, it shows the exact opposite,” Lemon said.
“If you look at the Tuskegee experiment and on and on,” the fired CNN host continued. “Only 5% of doctors in America are Black. All of them are White. So if the majority of doctors are White, and there are still these inequities, and there are still mistakes, are you blaming DEI for that?”
“No, I’m very basically saying that if we lower standards for what it takes to become a board-certified surgeon or an oncologist or something where if you make a mistake it causes someone to die, then more people will die than if we don’t lower the standards. And therefore, we shouldn’t lower the standards.”
