During CNN’s coronavirus town hall on Thursday, host Anderson Cooper reacted to the criticisms the network received for booking Greta Thunberg for its coronavirus town hall by stating they were critiques based on “made up” information and were part of “a cycle of phony outrage.” Cooper also said that one critic, Donald Trump Jr., is “attacking CNN and a 17-year-old Swede” because he “just wants his dad to love him or notice him in a way that’s not mocking him.”
Cooper began by showing the initial ad for the program that CNN ran, which was later updated to include MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
He then stated, “Apparently, someone with a blue check on Twitter saw the initial ad and was outraged and claimed that we had booked Greta Thunberg to be an expert on a coronavirus panel with other health experts. Then, of course, Donny Trump Jr. jumped into this, which is weird. Because I thought he was allegedly running whatever remains of the Trump Organization. I mean, shouldn’t that be, like, a really busy job since it’s, you know, allegedly such a great big company? Anyway, once DJTJ started typing, then other people with blue checks on Twitter also started doing their thing. Because everyone has to produce content these days. That’s what it’s all about. It’s like a tween on TikTok. You’ve got to produce content, lest you miss out on a cycle of phony outrage. Then someone who’s apparently a reporter at Forbes wrote an article about this alleged controversial booking and the concern about it. And the New York Post today wrote about it as well, claiming we were having her on a panel, which is what the first person on Twitter was claiming, which was made up. It was made up then. It was made up today in the Post.”
Cooper then pointed to other ads for the past coronavirus town halls that showed guests that weren’t on panels using the same format as the ads that Thunberg was in.
Cooper continued, “I get Donny Trump, Jr. attacking CNN and a 17-year-old Swede. That’s like low-hanging fruit. It’s like paying thousands of dollars to shoot exotic animals on a game farm, you know, it’s easy. And I know Donny Jr. just wants his dad to love him or notice him in a way that’s not mocking him. But I just find it fascinating to watch the phony online outrage machine generate content on Twitter based on something that was never real to begin with. It’s kind of surreal to watch it all just kind of play out. In the words of our dear leader, sad.”
(h/t NewsBusters)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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