Don Lemon Says Elon Musk Not Used To Answering to People Who Don't 'Look Like Him'

Don Lemon's not letting up on Elon Musk one bit ... hitting his new nemesis repeatedly in an explosive interview -- and making some pretty big insinuations.

The talk show host sat down with People in an interview published Sunday to promote his upcoming talk with Musk -- scheduled for release Monday -- and said he thinks Elon was put in a very unfamiliar position.

Among his comments, Lemon said this, "He's not used to being held to account. He's not used to having to answer to anyone, especially someone like me who doesn't share his worldview, who doesn't look like him. You know what I'm saying?"

Reading between the lines a bit here ... it seems Don's saying Elon's not used to answering to Black people -- instead usually dealing with white people who think the same as him -- a pretty huge implication if we're being honest.

And, it sorta falls in line with one of the questions Don asked Elon during their talk. He shared a clip while promoting the upcoming interview on "The View" where he asked Musk if he thought minority pilots were less qualified than their white male counterparts.

Lemon went after Elon a couple more times in the new interview ... he also called Musk naive if he thought questions about diversity wouldn't come up, and Don claimed he really believes in free speech -- while saying EM doesn't.

DL says Elon and his team wanted to see the interview before it aired BTW ... a request Don says he straight-up denied.

The name-calling's gone on for a few days now ... late Friday night, Elon compared Don to spoiled child Veruca Salt from "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" -- best known for repeatedly whining to her dad in the '71 flick.