Rioting is bad again, you guys. That was the conclusion drawn by Don Lemon last night while he batted around low-rent analysis with Chris Cuomo. After months of encouraging “protests” and directly excusing the destruction of property and violence, Lemon has decided things need to calm down.

Has this change of heart come from some awakening to the dangers of what’s being propagated on the streets of American cities? Nah, he’s just scared it’ll help Trump.

After previously encouraging violence in the streets back in May and June, @CNN's @ChrisCuomo and @donlemon are suddenly scared that the riots are helping President Trump get reelected. "Chris, as you know and I know it's showing up in the polling." – Lemon pic.twitter.com/fzLlKyykZG

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) August 26, 2020

Here’s a transcript if you can’t watch the video.

Don Lemon tonight re: Joe Biden, Kenosha and rioting ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/rQXWByJrnb

— Geoff Pilkington (@geoffpilkington) August 26, 2020

And to be clear, my assertion that these two actively encouraged violence prior to this is not hyperbole or exaggeration.

And Lemon back in May (via @CurtisHouck):https://t.co/7ib9Xdt8zz

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) August 26, 2020

Sorry, but expecting Joe Biden to come in and save the day after he and his campaign have mostly ignored the rioting since it’s inception is delusion. He can’t change the narrative now. Biden is the candidate of the party that supports this stuff and no amount of mental gymnastics (he’s not very good at that these days) or ranting about Trump is going to change that. Most Americans are not stupid. They know groups like Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and others are causing this violence and destruction. They also know exactly where the political allegiances of these people lie. If you want to embolden and cave to these anarchists and race warriors, vote for Joe Biden. That’s the calculus now.

But Lemon’s comments show something more than just bad analysis. They show how terrified the media are all the sudden that these riots could hurt their cause. A common theme emerged on cable news yesterday and into this morning. Namely, that Biden must “address” the rioting because it’s helping Trump. That’s the only reason Lemon even cares about this stuff stopping. He saw it as a political positive for three months. Now, he sees it as a liability and is growing fearful Trump is getting a bump out of the lawlessness of Joe Biden’s voters burning cities to the ground.

Unfortunately, Lemon’s wants are probably fool’s gold. Americans are not going to respond well to being held hostage. If Biden’s messaged is “elect the Democrat and then all these Democrats will stop destroying things,” that comes across as holding the country hostage. Blaming Trump doesn’t work because these are obviously not Trump supporters causing the chaos.

Lemon and his cohorts had a chance to take a stand on this subject early on. Instead, they chose to omit and pretend it wasn’t happening. To the extent they did acknowledge it, they excused it as righteous indignation. Now they are going to pay the political price. Any poll gazing now is too late.

(Please follow me on Twitter!!! @bonchieredstate)