CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who presents himself as an objective anchor and not an opinion host, launched into an anti-Trump rant on Thursday evening that included comparing President Donald Trump to an “obese turtle” that was “flailing in the hot sun.”
Cooper’s rant was in reaction to Trump’s address to the nation, where the president asserted he won the election if it is only “legal votes” that are being counted. Team Trump has already launched lawsuits in key states like Nevada and Pennsylvania for alleged illegal votes and improper ballot counting processes.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this from a president of the United States and I think, as Jake [Tapper] said, ‘It’s sad and it is truly pathetic,'” Anderson started, according to Newsweek.
“And of course it is dangerous, and of course it will go to the courts, but you’ll notice that the president did not have any evidence presented at all, nothing,” he continued. “No actual, real evidence of any kind of fraud. He talked about people putting papers up in windows he talked about things he’d seen on the internet.”
“That is the president of the United States,” Cooper said. “That is the most powerful person in the world and we see him like an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over, but he just hasn’t accepted it and he wants to take everybody down with him, including this country.”
As Trump gave his address, CNN’s caption read: “WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE, TRUMP SAYS HE’S BEING CHEATED.”
Moreover, as The New York Times noted, the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC cut away from Trump’s address entirely.
“We have to interrupt here, because the president made a number of false statements, including the notion that there has been fraudulent voting,” said Lester Holt, the “NBC Nightly News” anchor, adding, “There has been no evidence of that.” ABC anchor David Muir chimed in, “there’s a lot to unpack here and fact-check.” And CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes also spent time “fact-checking” the president on-air.
WATCH:
.@andersoncooper: "We see [@realDonaldTrump] like an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun realizing his time is over, but he just hasn't accepted it and he wants to take everybody down with him— including this country.” pic.twitter.com/pwJdPLhGEG
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 6, 2020
On Friday morning, the Trump campaign made clear that the election “is not over,” and they will continue to pursue legal challenges in multiple states.
“This election is not over,” said a statement issued by Matt Morgan, Trump 2020 campaign general counsel. “The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final.”
According to Morgan, results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada will be challenged, citing “irregularities” and alleged illegal ballots. And Arizona, he added, is too close to call, with Trump on pace to potentially win it.
“Georgia is headed for a recount,” Morgan said, “where we are confident we will find ballots improperly harvested, and where President Trump will ultimately prevail.”
“There were many irregularities in Pennsylvania, including having election officials prevent our volunteer legal observers from having meaningful access to vote counting locations,” he continued. “We prevailed in court on our challenge, but were deprived of valuable time and denied the transparency we are entitled to under state law.”
“In Nevada, there appear to be thousands of individuals who improperly cast mail ballots,” Morgan asserted.