Anderson Cooper Calls Out Don Jr., Other Blue Checks for Slamming Greta Thunberg Appearing on CNN
Anderson Cooper called out Donald Trump Jr. and other blue check marks on Twitter for “made up” claims attacking CNN for booking 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on the network’s “Coronavirus: Facts and Fears” town hall Thursday night.
Cooper explained the “surreal, absurd drama that played over the last 24 hours” by showing an advertisement promoting the show with Thunberg, and then with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who was added later after confirming he’d be on the show.
“Apparently someone with a blue check on Twitter saw the initial ad, was outraged, and claimed we had booked Greta Thunberg to be an expert on a coronavirus panel with other health experts,” Cooper said. “Then, of course Donny Trump Jr. jumped into this, which is weird, because I thought he was allegedly running whatever was left of the Trump Organization. Shouldn’t that be a really busy job since it’s allegedly such a great big company?”
On Wednesday, Trump Jr. tweeted sarcastically about Thunberg, saying “She’s now a world renowned infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist AND a leading scientific voice when it comes to global climate policy.”
Greta Thunberg having a remarkable career already in that as a teenager she’s now a world renowned infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist AND a leading scientific voice when it comes to global climate policy.
Just wow so impressive. https://t.co/398T4wXDry— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 13, 2020
“Anyway, once DJTJ started typing, then other people with blue checks on Twitter also started doing their thing, because everyone has to produce content these days,” Cooper added. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s like a tween on Tik Tok — you’ve got to produce content.”
Cooper went on to call out Forbes and the New York Post, saying they claimed CNN was having Thunberg on a panel of experts. His response: “It was made up then. It was made up today in the Post.”
After showing previous ads for the show, which was the network’s 11th iteration of a Covid-19 town hall, Cooper took one last jab at Trump Jr.
“Look, I get Donny Trump Jr attacking CNN and a 17-year-old Swede. That’s like low hanging fruit,” Cooper said, before ladling out heaping helpings of sarcasm. “That’s like paying thousands of dollars to shoot exotic animals on a game farm. It’s easy. And I know Donny Trump Jr. just wants his dad to love him or notice him in a way that’s not mocking him, but I just find it fascinating to watch the phony online outrage machine.”
In closing, Cooper ended his remarks saying, “In the words of our dear leader: SAD.”
Watch above, via CNN.
