June 15, 2016
In Live Interview, Anderson Cooper Destroys Fla. AG Over Anti-LGBT Stance
READ TIME: 3 MIN.
In what might be the most epic takedown of 2016, CNN's Anderson Cooper destroyed Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Tuesday over her problematic views on LGBT issues in a live interview.
Things were a-OK when Cooper, who is covering the Orlando massacre for CNN, first introduced Bondi. Warning viewers to watch out for scams involving the tragedy, she said folks who want to donate money to the victims and families affected by the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse should stick to well-established charities and avoid random websites.
But things took a quick turn when Cooper started to grill Bondi over her LGBT views, specifically gay marriage.
"I saw you the other day saying, 'Anyone who attacks our LGBT community will be gone after with the full extent of the law,'" Cooper said.
"That's exactly right," Bondi responded.
That's when Cooper flipped the script, pointing out he's spoken to members of the LGBT community "who are not fans" of Bondi. Cooper said they called her a hypocrite, noting that Bondi has said in court gay people fighting for marriage equality have done "public harm" to Florida.
"Do you really think you're a champion of the gay community?" Cooper asked.
"I've never said, 'I don't like gay people.' That's ridiculous," she said. "I don't believe gay people could do harm to the state of Florida. We're human beings."
Bondi, who became visibly annoyed with the out reporter, said the examples Cooper mentioned actually involved a lawyer on her staff defending what the Supreme Court allowed voters to put in Florida's constitution.
After a back-and-forth, Cooper told Bondi if same-sex marriage was not legalized by the high court last year, thus still illegal in Florida, then the hotline created to help families of victims in the Orlando shooting would be, in a way, moot. Cooper argued spouses of the dead victims who are gay would not be able to visit their loved ones in the hospital or receive funds for their lost partners.
"Isn't there a sick irony in that?" Cooper asked Bondi.
More back-and-forth ensured, with Cooper arguing Bondi spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to fight SCOTUS' gay marriage ruling.
Bondi eventually tried to change the conversation and abruptly said, "You know what today is about? Human beings."
"It's about gay and lesbian victims," Cooper said.
"It sure is! LGBT victims," the attorney general responded.
"Is it hypocritical to portray yourself as a champion of the gay community? I'm just reflecting what a lot of gay people have told me, they don't see you as that," Cooper said.
"I'm not portraying myself as anything other than trying to help human beings," she said.
Bondi went on to say that she spent her morning fighting with a funeral home that allegedly tried to overcharge a family to bury their loved one who died in the shooting.
At the end of the interview, Cooper asked Bondi if she could see herself as being a vocal support for LGBT people in Florida.
"They are citizens just like anyone else," she said. "Of course."
Bondi, who endorsed Donald Trump for president back in March, and her complicated stance on same-sex marriage has been reported on several times in the past.
Watch Cooper's interview below via CNN.
