On Wednesday, CNN’s Anderson Cooper confronted a Trump surrogate’s attempt to defend the former president’s increasingly authoritarian rhetoric, labeling the explanation “just bulls**t.”
The exchange began when renowned Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein asked Abel Maldonado whether he believes Donald Trump is a fascist. Maldonado quickly dismissed the idea, insisting that Trump is simply “a New Yorker. He’s a fighter. He’s a leader.”
Bernstein pressed further, questioning if Trump often makes “fascistic” statements. He pointed out, “New Yorkers who fight don’t usually invoke fascism. Does he say fascistic things day after day? I ask you?”
Maldonado maintained that he didn’t see that in Trump’s rhetoric. At that point, Anderson Cooper chimed in, declaring that attributing Trump’s comments to typical New York behavior was “just bulls**t.”
In response, Maldonado defended his perspective, saying, “I’m from California, and we see New Yorkers as fighters. They’re strong. They tell it like it is. They’ll say it out loud.”
Cooper, however, dismissed this characterization as a “comic book” depiction of New Yorkers.
The discussion also touched on the perceptions of former military officials who served during Trump’s presidency. Maldonado claimed their criticisms arose only after leaving the administration or being dismissed, a point Cooper repeatedly challenged.
Throughout the heated back-and-forth, Maldonado insisted he was sharing genuine feelings about the former president, to which Cooper responded, “But how you feel is not factually correct. So, you’re saying things which are not factually correct.”
Watch the clip below from CNN:
Journalist and author Carl Bernstein, Republican strategist and Harris supporter Ana Navarro and former California GOP Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado weigh in on Trump's refusal to back off false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Maldonado says Trump is… pic.twitter.com/k63Kl0JbcB
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 17, 2024
