CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. (CNN)
Anderson Cooper has channelled his big daddy energy to mock Donald Trump for fleeing a press conference after questions about his support for a homophobic conspiracy theorist.
Trump made an abrupt exit from the White House press briefing on Tuesday (July 28) when he was challenged over his decision to retweet a video of Stella Immanuel — a religious pastor who has previously promoted conversion therapy and claimed that illness is caused by sex with demons.
The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, had his Twitter account limited on Tuesday after he also posted the “misleading” video, in which Immanuel touts false cures for coronavirus and insists mask-wearing is not necessary. No action was taken against the president himself for retweeting it.
Trump appeared reluctant to answer questions about the issue at the White House press conference.
Pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump on Immanuel’s conspiracy theorist beliefs, he said: “She was on air, along with many other doctors.
“They were big fans of hydroxychloroquine, and I thought she was very impressive… I don’t know which country she comes from, but she said that she’s had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients. And I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her.”
When Collins attempted to press for a follow up, Trump abruptly left the briefing room.
Anderson Cooper tears into ‘wartime president’ Trump.
In a nine-minute segment, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper painstakingly deconstructed Trump’s reckless actions.
He said: “The president of the United States is promoting disproven and potentially harmful medical treatments for COVID-19.
“I know it’s not new, but in recent days there’s been talk among some of the president’s supporters that he was now finally getting encouraging mass wearing.
“But of course, once again, he’s being incredibly, dangerously irresponsible, takes no responsibility for it and clearly doesn’t care if it harms anyone.”
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Cooper continued: “Like a snake oil salesman, he’s still promoting disproven medical treatments. It is unconscionable.
“The president is now promoting a doctor, whose viral video has been very popular suddenly among QAnon conspiracy theorists and COVID deniers. She’s a doctor from Houston who believes that women can be physically impregnated by witches in their dreams.
“The so called wartime president’s main medical authority, really seems to be this person and himself. Nearly 149,000 dead Americans since he said that and the president is still by his own lights, the smartest guy in the room.”
Sharing the clip from the press conference, Cooper mocked the President with baby talk: “Oh, he wan out of the woom! Too many qwestions! Not qwestions I wanted! I’m gonna leave.”