James Fishback, a Republican nominee in the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election, made an explosive comment amid Don Lemon’s legal troubles.
Fishback, 31, took to X to suggest the veteran journalist escaped a public execution after covering an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota.
“Don Lemon is lucky he’s not getting hanged in the public square for ransacking a church,” Fishback posted to X. His statement follows Lemon’s arrest on charges related to the interruption of a religious service at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.
Fishback double-downed on his opinion during an appearance on the American Family Association’s “Jenna Ellis In The Morning” program. The show’s host, one of Trump’s former attorneys who is currently barred, opened the interview by praising the Trump administration for arresting Lemon.
“It is a good day for law and order in America,” Fishback declared. “A man ransacked a church during Sunday service with BLM and antifa thugs. If our Founding Fathers knew that a bunch of thugs, led by Don Lemon, had ransacked a church on Sunday morning while parishioners were praising our awesome God, they would have likely called for his public execution.”
“Don Lemon should be lucky that he’s not getting executed in the public square for his little stunt, his violence, his aggression,” Fishback continued. “It’s time that Christians stand up for our rights in this country. We cannot be bullied. We cannot be pushed around, least of all by Don Lemon, and so it’s a good day for law and order. I’m proud of what President Trump and the DOJ are doing and let’s see that justice is served in this case all the way through.”
Fishback, who has been accused of sexual misconduct against a minor, has made his campaign overtly appealing to the white nationalist movement. He’s previously hurled a stream of racial slurs at his Black opponent, Rep. Byron Donalds. On Jan 12, Fishback called Donalds a “slave” who was “auctioned off for $31 million” to business interests, and also posted, “By’rone wants to turn Florida into a Section 8 ghetto.”