Anderson Cooper, Worth Tens of Millions, Doesn't Relent on Attacking Bernie's Socialism

[portlander23]

Anderson Cooper, Worth Tens of Millions, Doesn't Relent on Attacking Bernie's Socialism
William Boardman
Reader Supported

Like most debate moderators, Anderson Cooper seemed most interested in promoting a food fight among the candidates. While he had snark for everyone, his most provocative and least conscionable jibes were saved for Sanders, served up with class-based relish.

“The question is really about electability here, and that’s what I’m trying to get at. You — the — the Republican attack ad against you in a general election — it writes itself. You supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. You honeymooned in the Soviet Union. And just this weekend, you said you’re not a capitalist. Doesn’t — doesn’t that ad write itself?”

Then Cooper stated: “You supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.” He said it as if there were no question that supporting the Sandinistas was a really bad thing. That’s the talking point on Breitbart, National Review, and other right-wing sites for whom Cooper was carrying water. On Just Foreign Policy, Robert Naiman posted a prompt denunciation of Cooper for playing the knee-jerk, pro-war media honcho.

Almost surely Cooper knew that statement was a dishonest low blow, a neat way to brutalize the truth without actually lying. Again Cooper was irresponsibly peddling another right wing trope, used with similar hypocrisy by George Will and others.

As a Daily Kos blog details, the Sanders honeymoon was also part of a 1956 sister-cities program initiated by the Eisenhower administration. In 1988, Sanders and his wife Jane were married, marched in a Memorial Day parade, then headed off to the Russian city of Yaroslavl on their “honeymoon.” Somehow that doesn’t have the same impact as when Anderson Cooper lies about it.

Related:

Anderson Cooper’s Claim About Bernie Sanders’ Soviet Union Honeymoon Was Redbaiting and Deceptive

[Fred Sanders]

1. The rich Catholic's News Network is the tip of the spear for corporate interests.

[emulatorloo]

2. IMHO, cooper gave Bernie a chance to counter these crazy right wing memes

Moderators don't necessarily believe in every question they ask. Rather they are providing candidates the opportunity to rebut or debunk shit the Republicans are floating. Sanders did a great job as far as I'm concerned.

[portlander23]

3. I disagree

If the venue were some long-form interview, then this would be a different scenario. Instead, a bunch of negatively phrased and also unfactual claims were laid upon Mr. Sanders in a venue where there's only time for soundbite answers.

It would be as if he asked Mrs. Clinton why she had Vince Foster killed, supports selling of aborted fetuses, and personally issued the stand-down order n Benghazi and gave her a one minute response.

[emulatorloo]

5. Ok. Can we agree that Sanders did a hell of a good job on those questions?

[portlander23]

7. I think he did OK

For example, there was no time to point out the details of his "honeymoon" or get into the facts and the politics of Iran-Contra, but I think he did OK. I'm of the opinion that the "won" the debate.

[AZ Progressive]

13. Bernie flubbed the Democratic Socialism question.

That wasn't a real definition and it was far too long and unclear. That was a real missed opportunity.

[Cheese Sandwich]

4. Sandanistas were the good guys right?

Which candidates joined Reagan in supporting Contra death squads? that is the position needing explanation.

Sanders should have said damn right and I'd do it again.

[emulatorloo]

6. Yup n/t

[MisterP]

10. they were basically ISIS, but without the ability to hold land or build legitimacy

outside of the Atlantic coast (where their forced recruits returned 1986-7 despite efforts to keep them in Honduras at gunpoint and keep fighting) they didn't seize a single town except Ocotal, and that was for like 3 days

their M.O. was to round up the entire village, line up the agrarian-extension agents, civic engineers, clinic workers, mayors, literacy workers, Bible-study leaders on one side and the villagers on the other; if anyone objected to the first line-up getting shot the villagers were "invited" to step forward; the "state agents" were then murdered

the point was not only to hamper Managua's efforts to reach out to the countryside, but to make the entire village complicit in

[AZ Progressive]

8. Anderson Cooper was throwing flaming hardball questions to everyone there

It was inevitable that those questions would come up for Bernie. Anderson Cooper was really going after everyone's weaknesses.

[restorefreedom]

9. cooper used to be good once

he is turning into a tool for the 1%

sad.

[AgingAmerican]

11. He would have to pay his taxes if Sanders won

And we can't have that

[UglyGreed]

12. Watching CNN these days

is like going to a Hillary Campaign website, they should change their logo to the big H

[azmom]

16. Clinton News Network. N/t

[Doctor_J]

14. didn't hate radio use the USSR travel against wjc in 92?

Rings a bell. Nice to see Andy channeling limpballs.

[Chan790]

15. Only tens of millions?

I was under the impression that other than his mother Gloria, he was the only surviving Vanderbilt heir. I assumed he was worth a few billion and did journalism as a lark or a hobby or pastime.

I remember watching him on an in-class news program growing up called Channel One. Unlike the rest of the team (including Lisa Ling, Sabrina Altschul, Kris Osborn, Brian Kilmeade, Maria Menounos, and Errol Barnett among others) who were seemingly trying to establish news careers, I always got the impression that Cooper's main motivation was to get himself killed in some spectacular way. He kept going to war-zone and walking around in jeans and tees surrounded by troops in full military gear and helmets.