Real Talk Across Political Divides: Insights from a Trump Supporter

In this episode of The Space In Between podcast, host Leigh Morgan welcomes Lemon Price—an incredibly popular podcaster, entrepreneur, and social media influencer from southeast Georgia—to explore her perspectives on Trump and the MAGA movement. Lemon shares her faith-inspired journey from supporting Obama in two elections to voting for Trump in 2016 and 2024. She reflects on her commitment to women's empowerment and why she stands behind many (but not all) of Trump's policies and isn't very concerned about his tone and penchant for lying. This enlightening conversation demonstrates the power of dialogue across ideological differences, and how trust can create opportunities for understanding. Whether you can’t stand Trump or you support his presidency – this conversation is a critical 'must listen' for all!

Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to the. Space in between podcast. I'm your host Lee Morgan. Again, this podcast is for listeners who are fed up. Up with the hyperpolarized nature of the world today. And who crave. Craves spaces where current events can be discussed in construct. enlightening and delightful ways. Let's get.

Leigh Morgan: 0:28

Friends, this podcast is special. I'm really pleased to welcome my friend Lemon Price, come to know in the last year, and what a treat that has been. Lemon has literally been a midwife to the Space in Between podcast. She has been my podcast coach, and her constant encouragement has been really life changing in terms of me following my passion for this podcast. So a little bit about lemon before we get started. She is a consummate entrepreneur and host of a wildly popular podcast called milk and honey with lemon price where she manifests her calling which is and I quote to raise up women leaders who boldly pursue their God given callings use their businesses as a force for good at communities. How's that for a purpose statement? Her audience and most of her clients are Christian identified women. When she isn't podcasting or building her coaching and marketing businesses, she volunteers time in her community. She helps address human trafficking. She mentors kids from disadvantaged communities. I know she's really passionate about education and making sure no is left behind. Lemon is also a strong Trump supporter. And today we will learn more about her views and why she's optimistic about the impact of the new administration. And along the way, my hope for listeners who may not support Trump or his policies, we have an opportunity to really deeply listen to someone who's thoughtful. And so we're talking about some stereotypes and myths, and Hopefully build connections across different political views. one of the things Lemon and I have bonded over is that shared commitment to finding ways for folks with different political views to listen, seek common ground. And so Lemon, we're going to do that today. And I am thrilled. Welcome to the Space in Between podcast.

Lemon: 2:36

Oh my gosh, Lee, thanks for having me. I just love being here with you. I think that you are brilliant. I am blown away consistently that you're my friend and just the work that you do that you're so passionate about. Thank you for having me. It's an honor for me.

Leigh Morgan: 2:52

Well, it goes both ways, my friend. So I mentioned a little bit about you in my intro. I'll put links in the show notes and share all the stuff you're doing. you're very active in the community. You're a mom, and you're so passionate about lifting up women, especially those in Christian faith communities. Not exclusively, that's for sure. what do you want listeners to know about your work in the world and why you're so passionate about women's empowerment?

Lemon: 3:21

I love this question. So yesterday, this was like such good timing actually. Yesterday I was at the Capitol. I was there for junior league, for our, what is it called? It's like a very long title, public affairs committee. That's what it is. Everybody in the league has very different political views, but there were things that we could, all agree on. And, we had a representative come from Columbus, Georgia. He came in and he met with us and something he said to me that I thought was really beautiful. It's so good. it woke me up at five in the morning because I was just thinking about it so much. But he's a Democrat. I'm a Republican. And he said, there's so many times that he's frustrated with his colleagues, he's like, they might vote away. I don't agree with, and I have to shake their hand and I have to pray for them and like, wish them well and see them again the next day and do it all over again. And he's like, when that happens, he's like, I call my grandma who's 91. And which is so sweet. He expresses his frustration and something she said to him, and this is now I hope everybody loves what he said, because it was so beautiful, but what his grandma told him is my generation fought for you to be in the room. And she said, it's your job to stay in the room.

Leigh Morgan: 4:32

Wow.

Lemon: 4:33

And I was like, Oh, okay. I love that. But then he said, I want to take it a step further. He goes, as women, a lot of people are going to pacify you. They're going to tell you, you don't belong in the room. They're going to tell you that, well, I have daughters. I have sisters. I have a mother. So I understand your plight. He goes, stay in the room. And I loved that. He said, I need, we need all of your voices. the squeaky wheel gets the oil. And that's one of my, I like, I love that phrase. And so I'm super passionate about it because I've been in spaces where I was the only female in the room. And in my early twenties, I cowered, I was like, I'm going to leave the room because I'm uncomfortable. That's hostile. I don't want to be here. And looking back now, what a disservice to leave the room. And so. I want women specifically to know that like, they do have a place, they do have a voice. It's something I'm so passionate about as women sharing their unique experiences. Cause I think women too were like hardwired, you know, like I love my husband, he's a very nurturing person, but I think women are naturally just hardwired to be a little bit more nurturing. And we, we tend to pour out to our communities. I know we've talked about this. And so when you can empower women, I think that's where you change your literal community, um, which then spreads out. So I'm, I get very excited talking about this.

Leigh Morgan: 5:49

I love that and just that phrase, stay in the room and, and here you and I are, we are in this literal podcast room together and you're in a lot of rooms. I want listeners to know your podcast. is in the top, what, 2 percent globally in terms of listenership. You are touching people. You've been going for a couple of years now. And this thematic of empowering women, is a facile place for you. You influence your community and you're in the room with. Very diverse folks in the junior league and Savannah and then interacting with this Democrat and you and I have talked I would consider myself very independent minded progressive I'm not a party person I think you might identify as socially conservative. Is that is that correct lemon.

Lemon: 6:38

I would say, yeah, probably, I mean, I would say like socially and fiscally, right? I would say I'm pretty conservative. But like my, my husband and we both like joke all the time are like, I don't like any of the parties. I don't, think you can, I don't think there's one party where you can look at it and be like, I agree with everything you're doing and you are my voice. Like, it's just, I, if you do, then we have to like a deeper issue to work through.

Leigh Morgan: 7:02

for sure. And there is so much. Polarization and fragmentation. And, you know, that's so much part of my vision and hopes that with the podcast to begin breaking down walls and having people talk to one another. I live in a dark blue dot on the West coast in Seattle. I have friends who are identified as conservative or Republican, but not a lot, right. And if you're living in kind of a red state or red community, probably don't interact with a lot of folks from. views. And you and I seek out communities where we have that. And so, my hope today is we can, begin understanding some of your views, because you've been very thoughtful. We don't agree on everything, but we agree that we are, appreciate each other's thoughtfulness. So, let's start by,, sharing a little bit about the role that your Christian faith plays, and how that animates your work and your values. A thematic that's so strong in your podcast and, and all your other businesses. Tell me about the role of faith in your life and how your faith influences your political beliefs.

Lemon: 8:11

I love this question. So I actually was raised in an anti Christian household. So when I tell people that they're like, Oh, your family wasn't believers. Like, no, my family made fun of believers. They were very anti anti religion as a whole. My grandparents had a bad experience with their church in the sixties. So that trickled down, you know, generationally to be, well, all believers are bad. Church is bad. God is bad. All these things are bad. I was told that believers are dumb all the time. I was told they're very dumb. And so, that makes me sad now to hear, but that's, that was common rhetoric in my household. And so I had a neighbor, she invited me to a Bible study and I didn't want to go. I was like, I'm not interested. I was in graduate school. I was teaching. Doing all these things. And she was like, well, I know you're home during that time and I'll feed you. And I was like, I will take a free dinner once a week if I can get it.

Leigh Morgan: 9:05

Exactly.

Lemon: 9:06

and she knew, right? She saw my car. She was like, I know that you're at home, so you should come. And I ran out of excuses. And so I went and my parents were divorced. Shocker. And her family was not like, they have five beautiful, healthy children who were all very successful, married with children, their marriage is thriving. Everything is beautiful. And so I'm like, why, is your life as my neighbor completely different than the life that I had? And she was like, it's the gospel. And I was like, sign me up then, you know, you're telling me that if I can like confess or, you know, profess my faith in Jesus, that my life can look like yours. And I can like break a cycle of brokenness. Great. I'm in. Sign me up. What I didn't realize is that I joined a very high control religious group

Leigh Morgan: 9:52

Oh,

Lemon: 9:52

and yes, so they frequently told me that I had no value outside of my womb.

Leigh Morgan: 9:59

Oh, wow. I'm

Lemon: 10:01

Um, they, yes, actively,

Leigh Morgan: 10:03

you're, you have lived such a expansive life so to narrow you down just to that, that's not quite a good fit, I would guess.

Lemon: 10:11

yes, I will never forget. They actively prayed that my business would fail so that I could dedicate more time to being a wife and a mother someday. And I was told. That no, good man in this organization would want me because I'm business minded. And I was like, Oh, so I spent a lot of years kind of like hating the way that God created me then. I'm like, I went from, you know, this place that I was in to a high religious group and hating myself now, because I'm like, man, maybe like I got this all wrong. And you know, I'm wired wrong or, you know, I'm pursuing the wrong things and this must be evil of me and felt terrible about myself. When I finally left, and it was like real Jesus who offers freedom and says he comes to give us life to the fullest and in abundance and every, I'm like, it can't, it can't be what I experienced then. And so living in the Bible belt, I now hear this all the time. My husband and I, we used to belong to a church that told. My husband there was nothing of value to be gleaned from me because I am a woman.

Leigh Morgan: 11:18

Okay. Well,, that's not

Lemon: 11:21

Yeah.

Leigh Morgan: 11:21

system. I know that. You

Lemon: 11:23

Nope.

Leigh Morgan: 11:23

long. Yeah.

Lemon: 11:24

Definitely not my husband's either. And so he immediately, packed up his stuff and was like, we're never coming back here if you don't see the inherent value in my wife. He's like, my wife is brilliant. She, I mean, she teaches me things on a regular basis. So if you can't recognize that it's not the place for us. And so going from high religious control to living in an environment where it says women don't have value and there's nothing to learn from them. And, there's been a big split in the Baptist convention over women, even speaking on stages and there's a big, divide into, can women lead, can women hold these roles? And so for me, that community of women is specifically marginalized. And it's denied like an extra layer of opportunity than like just women deal with on a regular basis in the corporate world and entrepreneurial spaces and all those things. But women of faith like specifically are marginalized because like their church tells them it's wrong. Their husbands tell them, you know, they're just societally, they're told that if you want to achieve more than being a wife and a mother, and there's nothing wrong with that. I have plenty of friends. Who love motherhood and love being a stay at home mom and they're very comfortable in that season. But to be told that you don't have value outside of that, breaks my heart. Yeah.

Leigh Morgan: 13:06

are. And yet here you are, you've found a way to reconcile your faith, beliefs, with a broader community of other Christian women, that really bolsters you and has helped your voice. And your authenticity, uh, come forth in really powerful public ways. and I'm curious how you've seen your faith community and your beliefs shape your political views. Again, you describe yourself as Republican. I don't know if you identify as part of MAGA, but definitely more conservative. And I love this. I think there's a solid assertion around women's role the community and the family and business which you embody, and think there's some stereotypes on left liberals that that can't reside also with kind of social conservative belief systems. And here you are embodying a lot of this stuff

Lemon: 14:08

Yeah, so with my face, right, there's definitely some things biblically that I would say, I, I don't necessarily like you, I, you'll never find me even before I became a conservative. Like I was never a, pro, choice person ever. I mean, never. My family, you know, is very pro choice. It's just never been my cup of tea. it could be because I've struggled with fertility and all those other things too. So like, I could just be a personal investment that I have in that. but Jesus has like the two greatest commands, right? Love, love God with all your heart,, first, and then to love others as you love yourself. And, I always think Christians kind of miss the, as yourself thing too. I think we miss that a lot where I, I think there's a difference between loving somebody and Accepting something. I'm just going to use this as an example, right. For a very long time. And probably still today, the LGBTQ community highly targeted by the Christian community. Well, a hundred percent. I've seen all of the posters. You're going to hell for loving your, like I've seen it all. It's gross. And I can't get down with it. That is not, it's not okay with me. Right? I can love you entirely as a person and I almost think Christians tend to take this, an Islamic viewpoint on sin as a whole. And so it's like, they're saying this is the LGBTQ is sinful and they're like, well, this is bigger than the fact that I just told a lie to my boss to like get out of work. It's not, they're exactly the same actually in the Bible. There's no hierarchy of sin. And so if I expect for people to give me grace and everything that I, I owe it to other people. While I will, I will probably never be a pro choice person, but I also, when I look at my politics as a whole, I'm thinking about like people as a whole and like, how do I want to be treated and like, what are the things that like I would want and how would I want somebody to speak to me and how would I want somebody to vote if it was my interest on the line? Um,

Leigh Morgan: 16:12

right. And I heard you say that before, and I love this focus on, this notion of love God, which in one way for those who might not identify was Christian that's loving a higher purpose in a way, right? And I think in today's society, it, just feels so polarized, right? Um, you're. Christian conservative or you're liberal and there's just not enough interaction to really explore what that means, right? Because you just shared a little bit about your, empathy and understanding that folks in the LGBTQ community experience a lot of marginalization and discrimination, which probably isn't a lot different than what you experienced in that church where you were hopeful that you might have found a connection, but then you realized. People in the church thought of you in a very specific limited nature, right? And you're like, I'm way more than that. And it's that connection that I think does bring us together. Right. And, and you just articulated that a very powerful way. And I had a, former representative, Joan Ballweg, a Republican about four weeks ago, who was. wonderful former legislator in Wisconsin, and she is so clear on her on her pro life views. And she's Catholic, and she just says, look, I respect women who want to have a choice about their body. I get it. For me, this is her, life begins at conception. And so if I believe that, then I'm going to vote for policies that affirm that, And for me as someone, I'm very, very pro choice, and yet the thoughtfulness that Joan and I think you bring about, where life begins, like that's an important conversation to hold and respect, right? And we might vote differently, but I think. affirming anyone that is actually brought into this world, let's care for them, right? That's where we can connect around women and whatever their circumstances. Um, so I'd love to turn a little bit to a story that you shared with me, which was you were a two time Obama supporter, and then something shifted for you and you voted for Trump in 2026. And for some folks that might sound like a really big shift, right? These are two different. Type leaders, they have very different views, et cetera. Can you share with listeners what made you shift to Trump?

Lemon: 18:45

Good question. I think it was a few things. So, one at the time I was married to somebody in the military and during the Obama administration, like there were a lot of things happening that I just could not get down with, that we experienced personally. So my first husband was injured in the military and, we went through a countless surgeries and they didn't want to release him. And I get it. He'd gotten into ranger school. Like I totally get it. The military invested money into him and so they didn't want to let him go, which is fine. Totally understand. And so once a month he had to go and submit documentation like, Hey, I'm still injured and I can't, I can't perform these duties. He was waiting for a cadaver.

Leigh Morgan: 19:27

So

Lemon: 19:27

but

Leigh Morgan: 19:28

He needed, uh, surgery that meant getting a part from a cadaver. And so that's what you're referring to. Is that

Lemon: 19:35

yeah, yeah, he had a one inch hole in his knee. So it was too big for them to repair without a cadaver. I felt really bad. I was like, I can't pray for you to get this fixed because that means somebody else lost their life. And so, he had to go submit paperwork once a month and then he was supposed to get paid full active duty pay because he couldn't do anything. And for a little over 10 months, he didn't get paid. We still had to go up. We had to submit the paperwork and then he didn't get paid. And so there was just no oversight. There was no accountability there. Literally like. Just a phone call, like, whoopsie, I forgot to file the paperwork. Sorry, you didn't get paid for almost a full year. And I remember my family, like they thought we were lying. They were like, there's no way this is happening in the military. This isn't real. You guys are making it up. And I remember his finance sergeant came down to us and, he came down, he needed a fax machine. So I send him to my mom's office because it was on our street. And I said, she has a fax machine and so you can go explain to her what we've been dealing with. And so he went and he told her, I just didn't file the paperwork. And then. It had been too long and I just kind of thought you guys would give up. And so that's kind of what happened.

Leigh Morgan: 20:49

So you had a really bad experience with a government agency, I would guess, Veterans Affairs and their health system, right?

Lemon: 20:57

oh, I have had a very terrible experience with them even now. Um, the attitude of, a lot of civilian doctors to do their compensation and like pension exams. who truly hate veterans. I have now sat on two appointments for my current husband and they have treated him terribly. One doctor said, I wish veterans would just hurry up and move on with their life and stop trying to milk the government for money.

Leigh Morgan: 21:25

It's terrible, terrible to hear that.

Lemon: 21:29

terrible.

Leigh Morgan: 21:29

so with your current husband, trying to get care is hard, but back in the day, You had this experience during the Obama administration and the military, balls, paperwork. In the meantime, it created, I would guess, all these hardships for you and your husband.

Lemon: 21:45

Yeah, for sure.

Leigh Morgan: 21:46

and that had an impact on you thinking about how you would vote for president. I mean, that just, is it the sense of disillusion with the, with the government or efficiency and just time for a change? Was it that sort of a?

Lemon: 22:03

Yeah.

Leigh Morgan: 22:04

you?

Lemon: 22:04

Yeah. I would say that like that had like a big impact. I was just like, man, there's just this problem kind of ongoing and. It, totally upset me to see that. And I'm like, maybe we do need to change. And I also want to be clear, like Bush was not a good president either. You know what I mean? I was definitely raised by Kennedy style Democrats. Like, obviously I was too young to care what Clinton did in his personal life, but I know he left us in a surplus. I was like, cool, this is all fine. the other thing I think for me is I felt like my party left me also.

Leigh Morgan: 22:33

Yeah,

Lemon: 22:33

Yeah. So Clinton ran on some strict immigration policies. He ran on strict, crime reduction and control and all that, that's where we got the Biden crime bill of 94 and all those guys. He ran on some, some very similar policies to what. Trump said, I saw Hillary Clinton say I want stricter and we need to close the border. We need stricter immigration, all these kinds of things. Um, Obama fired a ton of federal employees in his, you know, in the beginning. I think I saw the number, it was like 377, 000 people lost their jobs. Um, you know, and so,

Leigh Morgan: 23:11

And you like that? And when Obama, his first administration of reducing the federal government, he also deported more undocumented, folks than any other. He was real aggressive on that. He got a lot of criticism from the left. and a lot of cheers from from the right. But but you supported that And then there

Lemon: 23:32

mm hmm.

Leigh Morgan: 23:33

bridge too far, right? That made you think no more

Lemon: 23:37

Yeah, I think, yeah, that's I think exactly what it was. I think it was a bridge just too far. There were things that, I couldn't like go in and it's something else that Trump did that I thought was interesting is he's the first person to run and openly support. Gay marriage and these sort of, issues, like there's plenty of clips of Obama and Biden saying like, I don't support this. I have plenty of, I friends in the LGBTQ community. And Trump's like, well, I literally don't care. You're an adult, do what, you want. and that's kind of my philosophy. You're an adult. I kind of don't care what you do. I think it just became too much when it started like creeping into the schools and I've had some real experiences with that. even in rural Georgia, we had a teacher, um, at my son's school, she wore a school issued lanyard and she had a pin on it that said asexual pride to a group of elementary school students, uh, in my brain cabin. I'm like, Why?

Leigh Morgan: 24:34

in your brain cabin?

Lemon: 24:36

Yeah. In my brain cabin. I'm like, why? First of all, why are you advertising that to your coworkers? That's weird. Never in the history of our life have we advertised like this is what I do in my bedroom. It's a weird concept. And then, also why are you advertising it to second graders and kindergartners? this just doesn't make sense to me. And I can't, reconcile with like such a shift, especially when it impacts our children. So it kind of, it was, it was like a multifaceted reason that I made the shift in the first place.

Leigh Morgan: 25:09

And what inspired you about Trump in 2016? I mean, you just gave an example of a hands off around gay marriage and then a bridge too far in the school systems having pride buttons or using the word asexual, that felt too much for you with young kids. And you kind of a reluctant Trump supporter or like yay finally someone's talking to me.

Lemon: 25:33

I actually didn't support him at all in the primaries in 2016. So, um, cause I also have met him personally. I grew up in New Jersey. I remember what it was like when he closed some of the casinos in Atlantic city and I was in news back then. I had done stories and I'd met him, cause it impacted my community when those casinos closed. And so I wasn't a number one fan at all. But. I, I knew I didn't like Hillary Clinton and some people were like, is it cause she's a woman? No, I actually, don't care. I just didn't like her policies. I didn't like, what was going on. Trump was not my favorite. I actually remember posting, there's no way he's going to get, no way he's getting nomination, fat chance that he gets it. And when he did, what I liked, I guess is that. He, he's not in politics. He was an outsider, I mean, and I know he's friends with everybody but he doesn't have the same lifelong connections to DC that other people have. And I think that's a problem. I've always been for term limits. I've always been for those things. So I liked that. I know where I stand with him.

Leigh Morgan: 26:43

Say more about that because I, hear that a lot from my friends who are social conservatives and it has a lot of emotional resonance of he gets you or you know where you stand because he says these kind of platitudes.

Lemon: 27:02

I think it's because I don't think he cares about hurting somebody's feelings, which, I think maybe we like should try to but I also don't want to like sugarcoat things for people. I don't want to, I never want to like tiptoe around it. Cause then I don't think we're communicating clearly. So I would almost just rather somebody be a little brash and just be like. That's how I feel and you like it or you don't type. And maybe it's because I grew up in New Jersey. So I'm used to that kind of rhetoric too. But I think I liked that. He just like, he doesn't care if he kind of hurts your feelings. He's going to say what he's thinking and feeling. And so like, I don't have to go back and be like, well, wait, you said this during an interview and now you're contradicting yourself. I, I think he's authentic in that way. Do I always agree what he says? Absolutely not. But, but I do think that he is genuine to himself, and just says exactly kind of what's on his mind. And I sure his campaign manager and PR person are like, could you please shut up sometimes? But, I remember it was trending during the election season. I would sure trade, um, mean tweets for like dollar 60 gas again. You know what I mean?

Leigh Morgan: 28:11

How do you respond to criticism of Trump, which includes. You know, he's brash. and this is something that honestly upsets me, he just lies all the time. he literally makes things up and says things of like millions and millions of immigrant hoards, and they're all coming across the border and they're raping our women. Just crazy outlandish things. He's still saying the election was stolen and there's no evidence for that. So you get the brashness, But the other side of that is. actually makes up facts and lies and says things that undermine, the actual reality of what's happening in the world. How would you, respond to that criticism?

Lemon: 29:06

Yeah, I mean, again, like, I don't always agree with what he says at all. So it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily like I've had many people like, Oh, like, you know, Maybe this point was exaggerated or this was that way. I think we've all done that. And so I guess again, there's no policy that says there are millions of people crossing the border who rape and like pillage our women, you know? Like that's more what I care about is what actually is the legislation and what they're doing and. I just think there's like so much kind of double talk that happens in politics. You know, you always hear, oh, Republicans didn't support this bill and when you hear that the headline it is, like, oh man, I can't believe you didn't support this bill. And then you go and read the bill and you're like, well, wait a minute. It's cause we also snuck in funding for like snail studies so. I'm like, okay, you put something in the bill that Republicans would never agree with or vice versa that Democrats would never agree with. And so I look at like the actual policy instead of necessarily like what's being said. And he's a guy from New York. He's an old school New Yorker. I guess I'm just like kind of used to it too. That's the world I grew up in. And so,

Leigh Morgan: 30:18

girl at heart, even though now you're in Georgia.

Lemon: 30:21

Yeah, I've been in the South a long time, but yeah, I think I'm just used to it. And again, I don't always agree with what he says. And so, I would rather trade mean tweets for like cheaper gas or cheaper eggs or things like that, because the, the brashness of it doesn't scare me. Also it can be effective, right? Like, you know, like, yeah,

Leigh Morgan: 30:42

how you see it being, how his style, and again I think this is so important for listeners who maybe have never had this kind of conversation of what, what has struck you is there's a brashness, a straight talk that you heard from this candidate who you were initially lukewarm on and then he became the Republican nominee in 2016 and you don't agree with everything. And you're willing to put up with, these are my words lies, right, because I feel like he intentionally lies about things, not that other politicians don't but you're okay with tolerating getting facts wrong because the upside is more straight talk that you know where you stand. Did I get that right lemon.

Lemon: 31:33

yeah. And I think you made a good point to like all politicians lie. They all, they all do it. They all get very diplomatic answers or we make something up, especially during campaign season, or, we're trying to rally some people. And so if I, don't tolerate whatever it is that comes out and then I can't, support anybody because they're all going to do it. They're all going to make it up. And I get it. He's the president. And he's held to a higher standard, but I didn't hear the same rhetoric for Biden or Obama the fact checking wasn't the same. and that I think too, is something that the media, didn't do well, it's almost like the harder you went didn't do the same for like Biden, the more it drew me in.

Leigh Morgan: 32:16

Oh, say more about that. I think this is powerful because, I did a podcast with Arjun, and we talked about media and he identifies probably center left and as a journalist for the Washington Post. And what I love about him he said, look, my task is to let people know my biases. Because I want people to know when they listen to me where my starting point is, then they can go to other sources and hear a different view. I just love him for that. And I think you just gave an example where few of us go to diverse media sources and then we hear one thing and it gets exacerbated and you just described being more and more turned off to Biden, I think. Is that right?

Lemon: 33:04

Yeah.

Leigh Morgan: 33:05

by, and why did that happen?

Lemon: 33:08

Yeah. I think there was like a few things, right. You know, Democrats will say like, well, yeah, there was cognitive decline kind of going on, and you could see it, right? Anytime he gave a speech, it made me so sad to watch this elderly man up there, struggling to put sentences together, like, this is a leader of the free world and he is having a very hard time. And it's very evident to me that we're in a cognitive decline.. And yet the media kept telling us he's fine. Kamala was on TV. She's like, I'm meeting with him every day. He's wonderful. And then he did terribly in the first debate, which I think was strategic. I think they knew he wasn't going to hold up to a debate. Later on in the season, it would be too late to replace him, which is why they did one historically so early. So he could fail on national television, which again is a disservice to him. that made me so sad to watch that happen on TV because all I could think about is like my grandparents and somebody just propping them up. And using them in a terrible way. And the media saying he did great. He won. And George Clooney being like, I just had dinner with him. He was amazing. And then after that debate, they're like, he actually is in cognitive decline. We have to replace him. I'm like, well, yeah, like

Leigh Morgan: 34:19

It just felt a little kind of, I'm going to use the word fake. Yeah,

Lemon: 34:24

Yeah.

Leigh Morgan: 34:25

like we're trying to pretend this man isn't in decline. And is it accurate that it, confirmed your own previous experience, which was politicians, whether it's on the left and for some folks on Republicans have just mushy platitudes of milk toast, nothingness and then you have like this clear choice in Trump. Right. And so it was like a standout, at least I know where I stand. And I think that's a takeaway that I want who are listening to the podcast, who consider themselves liberal, I think there's sometimes a reflective like, well, that's ridiculous. And that's not using your brain and all that. It is so important understand that most of us who care about communities want to feel seen and heard. Period. Right.

Lemon: 35:17

That's it.

Leigh Morgan: 35:18

And for me, you know, this Trump is just a bridge way too far, right? Way too far. His policies, his tone, etc. But what I want just honor is for you, you've been very thoughtful about it's not a bridge too far, because you wanted A very strong and deliberate antidote. Did I get that right, Lemon?

Lemon: 35:37

Yeah. And that's what I think it was. especially in this last election, Kamala Harris had a really hard time distancing herself from like failures of the, the Biden administration, you know, I thought it was like disingenuous, like what the media did, what influencers were doing, they were like, Oh, there's no inflation. Egg prices aren't on the rise. You guys are making this up. And then the minute that Trump gets elected, they're like, Oh, well, egg prices are too high. And what's he going to do about this? I'm like, well, wait a minute. A week ago,, you were trying to gaslight me into believing I'm not paying more at the grocery store than I am. And so, yeah, for me, I would almost rather have somebody who is a little bit aggressive, who is unafraid to share his opinions, even if they're not. A hundred percent when I agree with, or maybe they're not a hundred percent honest or whatever it is he's doing. I would rather have that than the double talk and the hypocrisy that I was getting from the other side. And not to say that it doesn't exist on both, but especially with the media circus of the last year, it was like a very concentrated effort. I I feel like I'm being gaslit on a regular basis. Like.

Leigh Morgan: 36:47

personally, for your beliefs, that when media or liberals, whoever these people are, when, uh, Trump was criticized, it felt personal to you because you actually just want Straight talk. And instead of straight talk, you're trying to bend and twist to justify Biden staying in the race when he really had cognitive decline. But I think this is the whole point is that you personally felt gaslit. And this is the part when we talk about building bridges across divides. I've used this example before. The day after the election, I listened to a podcast. And they shared four quotes. Two from Trump supporters and two from Kamala Harris voters. And the first man who spoke, and what I made up was that he was a white Trump supporter. He said, I finally feel respected. I woke up today, was elected, and I finally feel respected. I will never forget that. I thought to myself, what a shame that yesterday he didn't feel respected. And then one of the Harris supporters said, I feel fearful for my life. The Trump supporters. going to come get me and they're going to beat me up. That was her belief about folks like you, right? Whoever would audaciously vote for Trump they want me dead or harmed, right? And just think about that, right, London? Like that's not the society we want to create. That's not the world we're trying to create. I really want us to move past that. What advice would you give folks who might have myths or stereotype about MAGA folks or Trump or social conservatives? What do you want us to be aware of so that we can have more empathy and understanding for folks who, might have different political views?

Lemon: 38:54

I think the biggest thing is to have a conversation with somebody like just talk to a person and not with the intention of getting your point across. I mean, active listening, like I really, want to hear you. I want to see you. I want you to feel respected. When I see a ton of Harris supporters, like devastated and crying full meltdowns about fearful for their life. I blame the media for that, for telling you consistently that you're going to be hunted and gathered, you know? I'll tell you, it happened the same thing on the right that we were told consistently, if Harris won, there was going to be reeducation camps and all of these things for Trump supporters. I think the media is just baloney as a whole. I think we've moved way too far. Those quotes could have been switched, you know, if the, if the election had been different, those quotes could have been switched because the media was telling everybody the same thing on both sides.

Leigh Morgan: 39:48

Yeah,

Lemon: 39:49

As a Harris supporter, you should be afraid as a Trump supporter. You should be afraid. Like there was a lot of fear and division that was so into people. And that breaks my heart, especially because we, have anecdotal evidence, like Trump was president before nobody was rounded up and like. Murdered, you know, like on a federal level, there was not like this mass policy to round up. You know, supporters of, you know, Clinton's and murder them. Like it didn't happen. And so I would just say, have conversations with people like really hear them and see them like understand their point of view. Cause I think we do a disservice to ourselves when we exist in an echo chamber. I think we do a great disservice to ourselves. I don't think there's enough conversation happening. And so that is probably my, biggest advice. I promise, like, nobody's gonna, I mean, I don't think anybody's going to like hunt you down and like try to like, I just don't, I don't think that's going to happen, you know, that's not to say there aren't bad apples on both sides,

Leigh Morgan: 40:51

Yeah, I think that's as interesting what you said. I haven't thought of it of, you know, in Trump's first administration, there weren't roundups, right? There weren't, weren't put in jail or kicked out of the country for their political views. So if that was accurate, then you as a Trump supporter would say, well, why would I expect that to be the case? Yeah. Um, you know, some of my concerns lemon, you know, they that we're actually beginning to see some of this. Um, rounding up of folks, right of, a green card holder, a Palestinian activist. I've never read his stuff, but was detained this week, um, using a law that the state department has never used in the last 150 years that says you, you can technically arrest somebody for their views. even if they're an American citizen, a green card holder, And so I have some concerns, that we're beginning to see political retribution and these revenge firings, etc. So let's come back with each other maybe in six months, right? I think that's where some of the that you might hear in less Republican or MAGA identified that we might be at a tipping point or on a slippery slope, of revenge filled Trump administration where there's a lot of anger at, um, the four years that he was out of office. Do you have a about that criticism?

Lemon: 42:28

Um, no, I think, yeah, I mean, so I haven't seen that I'll have to like, I'll for sure have to go look at that and just see kind of what's like going on, but I think the Trump we're getting in 2025 is different than the one we had in, 2016. Um, cause he didn't know what to expect. He definitely was not like a, like you said, he was not a DC person. And so he kind of went in and used kind of the same people and, you know, it did really do any, I mean, I don't think he kind of like knew necessarily what he was doing. And so, yeah, it's interesting to see like this version of him cause I mean, he has a lame duck president, right? He can't run again. And so I think he is kind of just going balls to the wall. He's like, listen, I'm going to get accomplished what I want to get accomplished. And I think it'll be interesting to see like how he handles the next four years or so,

Leigh Morgan: 43:24

For all of us, we tend to be in media silos, right? Like when you said that some media on the right were Harris would have re education campaigns for Trump. I mean, that is so outlandish to me and like crazy, right? And then you probably have examples too of things Media might say on the left, And just seems crazy that we really need to seek out multiple sources for news, right? And I think the best case again. to seek sources where people say I'm starting from this place, so that we can then pick balancing out perspectives, because otherwise we get fringy crazy conspiracy theory stuff And we don't want to be milquetoast, but I don't think we want crazy, you know, Haitians are eating the dog kind of stuff, right? Those are, those are just ridiculous stuff. So I just want to lift up that we see that. So I have a question for you. You were raising two boys, I know you care a lot about, boys and also about quality of education through your volunteer work you think about the next 10 or 15 years and the world, your, your boys as they grow into young men and what, what gives you the most hope about the future and our ability to come together in the communities that we're a part of.

Lemon: 44:52

I love this question. I just think children are so innocent as like a whole, you know, like just come out so innocent. And my kids are extremely thoughtful children, and I will credit my husband to that. My husband's an incredibly thoughtful person. he literally just got, a letter from the governor of Kentucky making him a Colonel in Kentucky. It's like a high honor thing they do in Kentucky. For people who go above and beyond to serve their communities and show kindness and thoughtfulness and it's literally in their description, um, of who gets it. And so somebody nominated him. It literally just came on Monday, which I thought was just beautiful. And I was so happy to celebrate him for that.. I have a very thoughtful, kind husband who like goes out of his way to serve others, and then it's trickled down into my children. And my children. They literally don't care what you look like. They don't care what your view, they just don't care. They've gone to schools where they've been the minority. um, my son's best friend. They're always out in the yard together, he's black. My son is white. And they just literally, don't care about those things. They care about the. The heart and the intention. My son had a friend who, when we first moved to this part of Georgia broke something he had just gotten for Christmas. he was so upset about it. And I was like, well, how do you want to handle it? He's like, well, I just want to tell him, it hurt my feelings and we'll go from there. And his friend at the time did not acknowledge it, nor did he apologize for it. So he came home and he told us about it and we were like, well, how does that like make you feel? And he goes, well, it feels like he didn't respect my stuff. He's like, and he didn't even have enough courtesy to say, sorry for breaking this thing that I had just got. And he's like, I don't know that this is somebody I want to be friends with, outside of school, because there's, there's no consideration for me as a person there. And so

Leigh Morgan: 46:36

He

Lemon: 46:37

love that.

Leigh Morgan: 46:37

he cares about accountability and being thoughtful to your friends.

Lemon: 46:44

Yes.

Leigh Morgan: 46:45

that's what your, your youngster cares about. Those are great. Those are great values for all of us.

Lemon: 46:52

Yes. His best friend that comes over on a regular basis. I same way. I mean, so kind and considerate and compassionate and his grandmother's the same way. She is much older than I am and a woman of color. And she's like, listen, I was raised very differently. she's in like her seventies or eighties. Um, and she's like, we have to see each other. And so that's my hope that more people are raising their children with. Just kindness and compassion and consideration. And, and I think the way we do that is by modeling it ourselves.

Leigh Morgan: 47:25

Yeah.

Lemon: 47:25

say that I want you to be a kind and compassionate person and then exist in the silo.

Leigh Morgan: 47:30

Yeah. Or you can only be kind and compassionate if you're a or Democrat. And by the way, your husband got this acknowledgement from a Democratic governor of

Lemon: 47:41

Sure did.

Leigh Morgan: 47:43

So yay for that. And, um, I am so grateful for our friendship

Lemon: 47:49

Same.

Leigh Morgan: 47:50

our ability to talk and hold space together. I'd love to have you back and continue this conversation and my encouragement. Is for all of us listeners to find folks who have different political views in this time when there's a lot of fragmentation, a lot of polarization and just make that space and listen, because most, people are fundamentally kind want to do the right thing, I just think holding this potential for connection. And I love that you're leaving us with that sentiment of young people today are connecting all the time. I am hopeful we can get through this time by leaning in and listening with one another. So you so much for sharing a little bit about your story, and helping me understand how some of your political views came through. So thank you Lemon for being amazing.

Lemon: 48:50

for this was so And literally, I was so excited. I'm excited to just come on to share. And I think that what you're doing is really important because my hope, and I hope this isn't like a vent, but I hope one day there isn't a need for, for a podcast like this for, because it's just natural and it just comes natural. And that's really my hope is that the next generation of learning that the divisiveness and all those things can't sustain us and we have to be, we have to, we just have to talk to each other. So. I think the work you're doing is very important. I think it is beautiful. I think it was incredible. It's why I've always supported you and I will always support the work you're doing. And I think that you are absolutely brilliant. So just thank you for, for what you do. And thank you for having me, my beautiful friend.

Leigh Morgan: 49:31

This is awesome. Lemon, thank you folks. Go listen to and Honey with Lemon Price. What a great name. I love it. thank you.

Lemon: 49:41

Thanks, friend.

Leigh Morgan: 49:42

Okay, bye for now.

49:46

I hope you. Enjoyed this episode of the space in between podcast. If. If you did, please hit the like button and leave a review. Wherever you listen to the show. And check out the space. Space in between.com website, where you can also leave me a message.