"CNN is a serious problem"— Netizens react as Charlamagne Tha God clashes with Anderson Cooper over Trump-Kamala coverage
Comedian and TV personality Charlamagne Tha God and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper got into a heated debate over the network's Trump-Kamala coverage. On Thursday, October 24, 2024, during his appearance on AC360, Charlamagne went on a rant about Donald Trump and what he considered fascist remarks from the Republican candidate and the double standards that apply to Kamala Harris from a journalistic standpoint.
At one point, the Breakfast Club host tells Cooper:
"I feel like I heard more on this network about ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ than I do about, you know, Donald Trump being a fascist."
This prompts Cooper to reply:
"That’s bullsh*t."
As clips for Thursday's episode went viral, internet users were quick to react. One commented:
"Charlamagne is right, CNN is a serious problem."
Many agreed with Charlamagne Tha God's opinions, noting that many news channels don't seem "unbiased," adding that people are being "gaslit" by the media.
"Cooper is stuttering because Charlemagne is right," one user commented.
"I've liked Anderson in the past but he just proved without a doubt how clueless he really is," another added.
"Charlamagne ate that! He’s right. Enough is enough! America media and journalism has been P*SS POOR. In the name of being “unbiased” they have completely disregarded the relations of what Trump is. We’ve been gaslit for months by news media and it’s sickening!" a person remarked.
There were some who criticized Charlamagne Tha God, stating he just brought up all the "liberal talking points."
"I’m not always a fan of Charlemagne but I applaud him for speaking up," a user wrote.
"Charlemagne is a low IQ thug," another commented.
"Charla has those liberal talking points down packed. He rehearsed those in the mirror every night. @cthagod," a person added.
"I think no network has been honest about Donald Trump"—Charlamagne Tha God about the news media not having honest conversations about Trump
In his show AC360, Anderson Cooper asks Charlamagne Tha God to weigh in on Trump's plan to appear on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and whether Kamala Harris should do the same. Charlamagne immediately replied:
“I think that she should keep calling Donald Trump a fascist. And I think that Americans need to keep looking at the rhetoric of Donald Trump.”
The podcaster elaborated that he doesn't know why people are even thinking about electing someone who talks about "putting people in camps," "mass deportation," and wants to "terminate the constitution to overthrow the results of an election." He continued:
"Aren’t we supposed to be a patriotic country? 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?"
Charlamagne Tha God is referring to former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racism and police brutality. In the aftermath of the move, the footballer was never signed to a team, as it was considered unpatriotic.
The TV personality tells Cooper,
"Now, you brought it (the conversation) back to Kamala and Joe Rogan, Anderson, who gives a damn?"
Cooper then tried to explain the significance of Trump appearing on Joe Rogan's namesake podcast. However, Charlamagne Tha God retorts, saying they were debating whether Donald Trump was a fascist. In addition to his aforementioned points, he added that the Republican nominee was also talking about "jailing his political opponents." The podcaster questioned:
"That rhetoric doesn’t scare people?"
Anderson Cooper commented that CNN tried to cover the rhetoric. To which Charlamagne replied that they weren't having enough conversations about it, noting they've had more conversations about Harris' ethinicity.
This prompts Cooper to disagree, adding that there might be some "nutty people" who might have said that on CNN panels, but his aim was to "get people different viewpoints as long as they’re willing to have a legitimate conversation."
“I think no network has been honest about Donald Trump. You haven’t had, nobody has had honest conversations about Donald Trump since 2016. We talk about (him) being a threat to democracy, but we don’t treat him like one.”
Anderson Cooper retorted, saying no Trump supporter watches his show to be "validated on their opinions." He added that there was nobody on the planet who had not heard or seen what the Republican nominee had said. However, he added that he agreed with the double standard, criticizing Trump for having no policies.
Charlamagne Tha God added that he appreciated the comment, adding he wanted to "hear more pundits."