Charlamagne, Anderson Cooper spar over coverage of Harris

Radio host Charlamagne tha God and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper had a heated exchange late Thursday evening over the network’s coverage of Vice President Harris compared to former President Trump. 

The debate started when Charlamagne, a Harris supporter, demanded to know why networks, including CNN, refused to cover Trump as a “fascist” but extensively covered the former president’s comments about Harris’s race. 

“It’s crazy, because you still don’t have news networks having that conversation, like when somebody says, when somebody questions Kamala Harris’s blackness or, ‘Is she a DEI hire?’ you all will have roundtable discussions about that, asking that question,” Charlamagne said. 

“How come we’re not having a roundtable discussion asking, ‘Is Donald Trump a fascist?’ Actually, not even asking — he’s stating it,” Charlamagne added. “How come that is not the topic of discussion on networks like CNN every day?”

Cooper pushed back, saying he talks about it “every night” on his show. 

But Charlamagne pressed on. 

“I feel like I heard more on this network about, ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ than I do about Donald Trump being a fascist,” he said. 

Cooper promptly snapped back: “Honestly, that’s bulls‑‑‑. I’m sorry. I’m a fan of yours, but to say that we‘re sitting around discussing ‘Is Kamala Harris Black…’”

Charlamagne cut Cooper off. 

“I’ve seen that. I’ve seen roundtable discussions a lot. Now that’s bulls‑‑‑, Anderson,” Charlamagne said. 

Cooper denied that he or fellow CNN anchors had ever questioned the vice president’s race, though he acknowledged there may have been times when “nutty people” with “strongly held beliefs” were invited on panels to “have a legitimate conversation.”

“I think no network has honest conversations about Donald Trump,” Charlamagne concluded. “Nobody’s had an honest conversation about Donald Trump since 2016.”

The exchange, less than two weeks from election day, follows a Wednesday town hall in which Cooper asked Harris if she thought Trump was a fascist. Harris responded, “Yes I do,” but avoided using the word herself.