Media darling Anderson Cooper is in an unfamiliar position. He’s pretty much universally loved for his straightforward, no nonsense demeanor, but this time was different. He’s getting a lot of hate online for how he handled a town hall event with Kamala Harris, with many accusing him of a double standard.
The town hall was with undecided voters in Pennsylvania, and he was so confrontational with the Vice President that many people were left confused about what was going on. He pressed with with questions about immigration, fracking, and why she didn’t fix anything in her four years in office.
Throughout the night, he interrupted her repeatedly. He also continually pushed her on her plans, a stark contrast to CNN’s response to Republican nominee Donald Trump and his “concepts of a plan” about health care.
One X user said history will not look kindly on how Harris was expected to uphold an impossible standard while Trump has had his numerous run ins with the law and is a convicted felon.
Others accused Cooper of looking to get a sound byte from Kamala instead of letting her speak, and one person quoted CNN senior political commentator Van Jones: “Trump is lawless and she (Kamala) has to be flawless.”
Cooper and CNN were also accused of treating the GOP differently in general, letting them fabricate facts and stories with little to no fact checking while Kamala couldn’t even talk without Cooper going hard at her.
During certain exchanges between the two, it almost felt like he was trying to back Harris into a corner over her positions on issues like the border. At one point, she had to cut him off.
“Our country deserves to have a president of the United States who is not afraid of good ideas and does not stand on pride,” Harris said. “If a perspective needs to be informed by different points of view to build consensus and to have a common sense approach. I’m never going to shy away from good ideas, and I’m not gonna feel the need to have pride associated with a position that I’ve taken when the important thing is to build consensus to fix problems.”
She then said she believed and loved fixing problems, and she pledged to work for all Americans, which meant that she would compromise. She also clarified her definition of compromise, saying it didn’t mean “compromising your values or your principles, but it does mean working to get stuff done.”
This particular exchange got many people on her side. One X user said that was a moment she really nailed, and that we need a leader who doesn’t care about pride and ego when they’re shown new ideas and information.
Others thought the moment showed how she handles herself with grace and kindness in the face of opposition. Ironically, the exchanges made Cooper a right-wing hero. One right winger on X called him a “F’ing legend and Patriot” that “destroys” Harris on her own “propaganda” town hall.
Wonder if this means we’ll be seeing Cooper on with his own show on Fox News. Probably not, but it does make you wonder if he would have dealt with Trump in the same way.
Published: Oct 24, 2024 07:06 pm