Tommy Christopher, a columnist for Mediate, sparked a heated discussion on social media after describing CNN anchor Don Lemon as "openly Black." Christopher made the head-turning comment in an opinion piece about Lemon's controversial statement on supporters of President Donald Trump . The article, which was supposed to focus on whether or not Lemon was right to associate all Trump supporters with Nazis and KKK members, gained more attention for the "openly Black" comment. "Lemon — who is openly Black — responded by telling Cuomo that 'if you are on that side you need to think about the side you’re on,'" Christopher wrote, highlighting the anchor's discussion with his colleague, Chris Cuomo . Later in the article, the author tried to explain why he used the phrase, saying he "mentioned that Don Lemon is openly Black because that fact adds to the sting of an already painful statement."