Ardently Anti-Trump late night host Stephen Colbert invited CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Bravo’s Andy Cohen on The Late Show July 18, to gush about how great Cooper’s outburst against the president on-air Monday was, after Trump’s remarks in Helsinki.
The free-wheeling interview largely avoided politics, but Colbert managed to get a few questions in about the CNN journalist’s reaction to the controversial press conference.
“You called Trump's performance disgraceful,” the talk show host stated. Cooper corrected him, giving the full quote.
“I said the most disgraceful performance by an American president on a world stage in my lifetime,” he said slowly as the audience cheered in approval. The pair smirked at the audience’s reaction, clearly pleased.
“It just popped out. I-- I'm not saying it proudly or gleefully. It just popped out. The first thing I said as soon as the press conference was done, it just sort of popped out of my mouth,” Cooper shrugged while grinning.
As Colbert went on to mock the president for correcting himself the following day, the CNN journalist had no qualms revealing his anti-Trump bias, joining in the ridicule:
COLBERT: You heard he changed one of the words right.
COOPER: Yes, I did. That all makes sense now. It is very clear.
COLBERT: Now its not disgraceful it is just graceful, it’s the most graceful performance.
COOPER: Yes. But he has the best words as he told us during the campaign.
COLBERT: He has the best brain, is he a very stable genius.
COHEN: He is a stable genius.
COLBERT: He is a stable genius.
Colbert took issue with one word from Cooper’s rebuke of the president.
"Does anyone else share my feeling that I find it offensive to call it a performance? That is a disgraceful performance it is not a performance, he is the president. He is just disgraceful. There’s no--If it is a performance, it is even worse," he slammed.
As the audience clapped, Cooper agreed. “I see what you’re saying,” he replied. The CNN journalist shifted away from politics, joking about Cohen texting him while he was on-air in Helsinki, asking if there were any “hot men” in the city.
