CNN anchor Anderson Cooper blasted President Donald Trump on Tuesday night for his hypocritical approach on the coronavirus pandemic, noting that while the president publicly downplays the threat he is personally protected in a “biological bunker.”
Cooper kicked off his Tuesday night broadcast by noting daily coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are suddenly surging nationwide, all while the president decided to visit Arizona, one of the hardest-hit states, for another indoor campaign event.
“He first visits the border wall and then goes to get a dose of self-gratification, his own favorite medicine other than hydroxychloroquine, at a megachurch where the pastors promise a miracle device will keep folks safe,” Cooper snarked. “And in this house of God, he uses a racist slur to describe the virus.”
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After playing a clip of Trump once again saying “Kung Flu,” the CNN star brought up Tuesday’s congressional hearing featuring health experts from the White House coronavirus task force, pointing out they continue to call for mask-wearing, social distancing, and rampant testing.
“The president is doing everything he can to subvert those people you just saw, the nation’s top scientists,” Cooper said. “He shut it down so people won’t hear as much about the virus. Because the president believes if you don’t hear about it as much, you’ll forget about it and about the federal government’s incompetent response.”
Claiming Trump is “actively working” to get the public to reject the task force’s recommendations, Cooper said the president himself isn’t even practicing what he's preaching.
“Of course, behind the scenes, the president has gotten more tests for the virus than probably anyone else in this country, if not in the world,” he proclaimed. “And everyone in the White House who makes contact with the president is tested and has their temperature checked. Publicly, he’s pretending the virus has passed. Privately, he’s living in a biological bunker.”
Cooper was apparently referencing reports of the president heading to his bunker weeks ago as protests flared up near the White House.
“He’s as sanitized and protected from the virus as anyone can be and in the midst of that epicenter of sanitation, he is encouraging everyone else, don’t follow the guidelines,” Cooper added. “Publicly, he’s flouting all of those guidelines, except the one about hand washing. He’s washing his hands of all of it.”
The veteran anchor went on to discuss Team Trump’s claim that the president was just “kidding” and being “tongue in cheek” when he said he asked his administration to slow down testing, noting that Trump threw his team under the bus by saying he doesn’t “kid.” At the same time, the task force said they have remained committed to increased testing.
“So who really cares?” Cooper sighed. “Who jokes about slowing testing for a deadly virus? The president is not some standup trying to do bits at the Laugh Shack on a Tuesday night at 1:00 a.m., testing new material.”
“There is nothing funny about it when the guy joking about slowing down testing is the guy who has the power to slow down testing,” he continued. “And the same guy that does not like a lot of testing because then you know how far the virus actually spread and he believes it makes him look bad!”
