Steelmanned

An integrity referee for public debates. We score how each side argued, never who won.

Don Lemon

1 scored debate

8 challenges faced · 1,982 words scored

92
Debate integrity · one scored debate

Not a career average: Steelmanned has scored Don once.

Where these scores sit

050100

Don: 92 (v panel of 5) · shaded to our ±5–8 re-run band · all 46 scored performances shown

Inside our ±8-point re-run band of this record: David Pakman's 92, Sam Harris's 93, Ben Shapiro's 94, Bret Weinstein's 90. We treat these as indistinguishable from it.

Component standings

Confronted the point92site 52–97
Argued clean100site 6–100
Dealt straight71site 0–87
Let them talk100site 75–100

Don's strongest component is “Argued clean” at 100. Across the 46 scored performances Steelmanned has published, that component runs 6–100.

A 100 on "Argued clean" means no fallacy points were charged, not that no fallacies were logged. The scorecard lists every logged event, including zero-valued ones.

The record

David Pakman ShowPanel debate0h 41m

David Pakman, Ben Shapiro, Don Lemon, Tara Palmeri | Reuters NEXT Conference Debate, December 2025

Don Lemon
92
DIS ±8
On a panel with Ben Shapiro, David Pakman, Tara Palmeri & Mitali Mukherjee
CRUX45% · N=8
92
CLEAN30% · 1,982W
100
DEALT15% · N=8
71
TALK10% · 40 TURNS
100

Confronted 8 challenges (17.5/19); answered why he left cable news with 'I got pushed out of mainstream media', acknowledged uncertainty ('I don't know either'), and gave partial ground that 'certain creators are remixers'; no fallacies or interruptions recorded across 1,982 words.

8 challenges faced · 1,982 words scored · rubric v0.11

Portrait credits