CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and radio host Charlamagne Tha God called out each other’s “bulls—” during a heated discussion Thursday night.
The clash began after Charlamagne, while appearing on Cooper’s show, began attacking news outlets like CNN for supposedly not focusing enough on former President Trump being a fascist and instead discussing racial issues involving Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It’s crazy because you still don’t have news networks having that conversation, like when somebody says, when somebody questions Kamala Harris’s Blackness or is she a DEI hire, you all will have roundtable discussions about that, asking that question. How come we’re not having a roundtable discussion asking is Donald Trump a fascist? Actually not even asking, he’s stating it,” Charlamagne said.
He added, “How come that is not the topic of discussion on networks like CNN every day?”
Charlamagne Tha God and Anderson Cooper sparred over CNN’s coverage of former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (CNN screenshot)
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“I talk about this every night,” Cooper pushed back.
Charlamagne blasted Cooper and CNN for continuing to ask him about Harris while ignoring Trump.
“I don’t think y’all have enough conversations about it,” Charlamagne said. “I feel like I heard more on this network about is Kamala Harris Black than I do about Donald Trump being a fascist.”
“Honestly, that’s bulls—,” Cooper replied. “I’m sorry. I’m a fan of yours, but to say that we‘re sitting around discussing is Kamala Harris Black—”
“I’ve seen that. I’ve seen roundtable discussions a lot. Now that’s bulls—, Anderson,” Charlamagne said.
Cooper insisted no CNN anchor has been asking if Harris is Black, though there may have been “nutty people” on a panel before with “strongly held beliefs.” He argued it was part of his show to “have a legitimate conversation” with “different viewpoints.”
“I think no network has honest conversations about Donald Trump. Nobody’s had an honest conversation about Donald Trump since 2016. I saw last night, they were talking about, you know, the double standard that exists between Donald Trump and the vice president, but it’s always a double standard with Trump, whether it’s Hillary, whether it’s, you know, against Biden. Now, with Kamala, we talk about him being a threat to democracy, but we don’t treat him like one,” Charlamagne fired back.
“I don’t know what you’ve been watching but, I don’t know if any Trump supporters out there or people who like him, who are tuning in to me every night to try to be validated in their opinions,” Cooper responded.
Cooper criticized people attacking him for his questions to Harris during the CNN town hall. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
He added, “Let me just say there is nobody on the planet who has not heard and seen pretty much everything Donald Trump has said.”
“I don’t believe that,” Charlamagne interjected. “When the vice president said that to you last night, and she said, ‘I don’t think enough people know,’ I 100% believe enough people have not heard his rhetoric.”
Cooper then went on to agree with fellow panel member Angela Rye over the double standard between Harris and Trump, criticizing Trump for having no policies compared to Harris. Charlamagne appreciated his comments and added how he’d “like to hear more pundits” do the same.
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“I’m not a pundit. I’m not interested. I don’t think my opinion is particularly interesting for viewers out there,” Cooper said.
“I disagree,” Charlamagne said.
Cooper continued, “Well, you can quibble with this, but I believe in asking questions and probing people’s arguments and trying to reveal people’s arguments about what‘s true and what’s not. And I’m not on MSNBC for a reason. I’m not on some other network for a reason. I’m on CNN because I want to talk to Republicans, I want to talk to Democrats, and I want to learn from them. I don’t think I have the answers. I’m willing to change my mind. People can convince me of stuff all the time. I don’t even know why I’m talking about myself.”
Charlamagne claimed CNN did not do enough to report Trump as a fascist. (“The Daily Show”)
Cooper also called out people who attacked him over his questioning of Harris during the CNN town hall Wednesday night, saying they “misunderstand” what his job is and poking more fun at MSNBC and himself.
“I’m not on MSNBC and no disrespect. What they do is, they‘re very talented, but I don’t watch it. I’m not interested in watching what these overpaid blow-dried anchors think and I‘m including myself in that overpaid blow-dried – although I don’t blow-dry, I am overpaid, but I’m not interested in the anchors’ opinion. I’m interested in facts and letting the viewers make up their own minds,” Cooper said.
“Now that I know you can literally call bulls—, I want to hear it more,” Charlamagne said.
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