In an unusually heated exchange on CNN, Anderson Cooper found himself in a tense back-and-forth with radio personality Charlamagne tha God, known for his blunt views on politics and culture.
Cooper had invited Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, to discuss Black American perspectives on Vice President Kamala Harris and her treatment in the media following former President Trump’s remarks questioning her racial identity, as reported by Trending Politics News.
During the discussion, Cooper asked Charlamagne if Harris should reach out to audiences through alternative channels, like podcasts hosted by personalities such as Joe Rogan.
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Charlamagne was unmoved, suggesting instead that Harris should continue calling out Trump for his “fascist” rhetoric.
Citing Trump’s past inflammatory comments, Charlamagne questioned why Trump’s divisive statements aren’t met with the same condemnation as actions like Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests.
He urged Americans to focus on Trump’s actions rather than scrutinize Harris’s racial background, calling it “ridiculous” that anyone even entertains Trump’s rhetoric.
As Charlamagne spoke, he accused media outlets of giving a pass to Trump’s extreme statements while frequently focusing on Black figures like Harris and Kaepernick.
He said, “Whenever somebody like Colin Kaepernick takes a knee in this country, everybody talks about ‘oh, that’s so unpatriotic.’ But a guy can say he wants to terminate the Constitution to overthrow the results of an election and nobody cares?”
Cooper tried to steer the conversation back to Harris, suggesting that the Vice President’s media strategy might include more mainstream and alternative media appearances.
Charlamagne cut him off, dismissing the focus on Harris’s race and interview choices as unimportant in comparison to the pressing issues.
At one point, Cooper, known for his usually calm demeanor, lost his composure after Charlamagne asserted that CNN obsesses over Harris’s race instead of holding Trump accountable for his “authoritarian” stance.
Frustrated, Cooper defended his network’s record, dismissing Charlamagne’s criticism as “bulls***” and stating,
“I’ve been talking about this every night.”
But Charlamagne wasn’t buying it.
“I don’t think y’all have enough conversations about it,” he countered, adding, “I think I hear more on this network about ‘is Kamala Harris Black’ than I do about, you know, Donald Trump being a fascist.”
The exchange was raw and uncomfortable, an anomaly for CNN’s typically structured and reserved format. While CNN has had its struggles in the ratings against powerhouses like Fox News, it often experiences a boost around election cycles and major national stories.
Anderson Cooper, a long-time face of the network and respected political commentator, rarely gets rattled on air, but this encounter showed him in a moment of frustration, revealing the pressures and perceptions surrounding mainstream media’s political coverage.
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