Don Lemon Says Elon Musk Interview is the Exact Conversation X Needs

Don Lemon‘s defending his interview with Elon Musk … asking people to watch the interview before they dismiss him — and saying X would benefit from these kinds of convos.

We caught up with the talk show host in the Big Apple Friday and asked him all about his upcoming interview with Elon … he’s challenging people to sit down, watch the interview and let him know why he’s not the right voice for X — ’cause Don says he can’t figure it out!

Lemon — who says he’s open to speaking to Musk despite his recent firing — says he’s giving the platform the kind of conversation he thinks it needs … and he wants X to hire people with his viewpoint to further its free speech goals.

When asked if he’d consider the Shannon Sharpe/”Club Shay Shay” route — DL seems to be thinking about it, and he’s got nothing but praise for the former Denver Bronco.

As for whether his beef with Don might cause Elon to lose followers … Lemon’s a lot less sure. He seems to think Elon is uber-popular with his base, regardless.

BTW … Elon’s resorting to name-calling in this beef — calling Don a “pompous fool” on X Friday before saying he’s still got the right to share the interview on X when it drops.

Don’s on his full rollout tour right now — sharing bits and pieces of his interview set for release on YouTube and X on Monday, and he shared a particularly wild clip on “The View” Friday.

Check out the latest clip he dropped on “The View” … Don asks EM if he values women and minority pilots less than men, and Elon says no — but he also cites replies on his platform as alleged evidence standards are being lowered to include them in the profession.

All in all, not really a great look for the X CEO … and it seems like this is just the very tip of the controversy iceberg.