Anderson Cooper Roasted on Twitter After Condescending Interview With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Hell is a female politician being interviewed by a male journalist. No matter how “woke” or liberal the man may seem, there is always a palpable undercurrent of condescension in these conversations, more so if the woman is young and a Person of Color. Such was the case on 60 Minutes, where Anderson Cooper sat down with freshman rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC has been the subject of an absurd smear campaign by conservatives and Fox News, who have taken umbrage with everything from her political ideals to her dancing.

Cooper’s treatment of AOC was at turns belittling and dismissive, especially with regards to her ambitious plans for a Green New Deal, which proposes a sweeping environmental overhaul over the next 12 years. Cooper asked AOC if she considered the plan radical, to which she replied, “Well, I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country. Abraham Lincoln made the radical decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to embark on establishing programs like Social Security.”

AOC has earned a reputation as a radical firebrand, despite running on platforms that are increasingly popular in America, such as Medicare-For-All, which 70% of Americans currently support. When Cooper asked how AOC planned to pay for single payer healthcare, she responded, “No one asks how we’re gonna pay for this Space Force. No one asked how we paid for a $2 trillion tax cut. We only ask how we pay for it on issues of housing, healthcare and education. How do we pay for it? With the same exact mechanisms that we pay for military increases for this Space Force. For all of these— ambitious policies.”

The segment that drew the most ire however, was when Cooper asked AOC if she thought Donald Trump was racist (he is) and she replied that he obviously was. Cooper responded with, “How can you say that?” and AOC replied, “When you look at the words that he uses, which are historic dog whistles of white supremacy. When you look at how he reacted to the Charlottesville incident, where neo-Nazis murdered a woman, versus how he manufactures crises like immigrants seeking legal refuge on our borders, it’s— it’s night and day.”

It was this exchange that prompted social media to call out Anderson Cooper for his out-of-touch response to Trump’s obvious and pronounced racism. After all, it was essentially his campaign platform and the impetus behind the current government shut down (not to mention countless other examples … Central Park Five, anyone?). People quickly took to social media to slam Cooper.

(via CBS News, image: screencap)

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Chelsea Steiner

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.

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