CNN’s Anderson Cooper: Trump’s Fox interview ‘like listening to the rantings of Richard Nixon’

CNN host Anderson Cooper remarked Thursday night that President Trump’s interview on “Fox & Friends” earlier in the day sounded like “the rantings of Richard Nixon.”

Cooper’s comments on his show came after law professor Alan Dershowitz weighed in on Trump’s interview by focusing on the president’s suggestion that he could interfere with the Justice Department’s investigations.

{mosads}“I think it would go down a very bad road for us to start parsing the president’s words to determine whether or not the president of the United States is exercising his authority under Article II or violating the law,” Dershowitz said.

“How do you ever interpret statements made by Donald Trump?” he said. “He made a vague, general statement intended to convey different points to different people.”

“Don’t you think that it’s kind of surreal that we are in a place now as a country where we’re like, ‘Oh, don’t listen to the president,’ like he’s a crazy person on a park bench with an onion tied to his belt, just mumbling incoherently,” Cooper said.

“You’re saying don’t parse these words. You’re saying, essentially, don’t listen to him, don’t pay attention to the words that come out of his mouth because they really have no meaning, that’s basically what you’re saying,” the CNN host continued.

Dershowitz, who is also contributes to The Hill’s opinion section, clarified that he meant that Trump’s words should not be interpreted to determine if he committed a crime, unless it’s clear exactly what Trump is saying.

“Now this particular president … speaks in a way that sends conflicting messages throughout and I wish as an American citizen he wouldn’t speak in this way and if I were his lawyer, which I am not, I would advise him not to speak in this way,” Dershowitz said.

“It was like listening to the rantings of Richard Nixon on the tapes,” Cooper said. “Except this is on live television. He’s calling in, screaming, yelling into the telephone.”

Trump called into “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning. During the sprawling interview, he admitted that his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, had represented him in the “hush money” agreement with adult-film star Stormy Daniels, which was related to an affair she says she had with Trump in 2006, after earlier denying that he had knowledge of the deal.

Trump also touted his record during the interview, saying he would give his presidency an “A-plus.”