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Must-see interview: CNN’s Anderson Cooper confronts Florida’s attorney general on anti-gay past
Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi was confronted in withering fashion by CNN’s Anderson Cooper earlier today for what he sees as her hypocrisy when it comes to the rights of gays and lesbians.
‘Do you really think you’re a champion of the gay community?’ Cooper asked bluntly.
Bondi, who fought in court against marriage equality in her state, had said this week that anyone who attacks the LGBT community would be gone after with the full extent of the law.
She made the vow after a gunman shot 49 people to death and wounded 53 others inside a gay nightclub in Orlando.
‘I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday who are not fans of yours and said that they thought you were being a hypocrite, that you for years have fought—you’ve basically gone after gay people, said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality were trying to do harm to the people of Florida,’ Cooper said.
Bondi insisted that she was merely doing her job in fighting against same-sex marriage and said: ‘I’ve never said I don’t like gay people.’
But Cooper used the attorney general’s own words from a 2014 legal brief in which she stated that ‘disrupting Florida’s existing marriage laws would impose significant public harm.’
Cooper asked Bondi if such language might exacerbate violence against gays like that committed by the Orlando shooter.
When Bondi took exception to the word ‘harm’ and said ‘Those words never came out of my mouth,’ the openly-gay Cooper countered with: ‘That’s what you argued in court.’
He then went on to say: ‘The hotline that you’ve been talking about on television, which allows family members and spouses of the dead to get information, which is incredibly important, and I appreciate you talking about on the air.
‘Had there been no gay marriage, no same-sex marriage, you do realize that spouses—there would be no spouses, that boyfriends and girlfriends of the dead would not be able to get information and would not be able to visit in the hospital here. Isn’t there a sick irony in that?’
He added: ‘I will say I have never really seen you talk about gays and lesbians and transgender people in a positive way until now.’
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
vern dufford says:
Again! the silver fox nails it…or should I say her?
Bailey says:
I get that this woman is not a LGBT fan, however she is just doing her job. While you applaud Cooper in this “must see” interview, at the end of the day Anderson Cooper is being a bully with her. Shame on him and CNN for promoting this kind of bullying.
Joe says:
It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen! Way to go, Anderson.
FAEN says:
@Bailey-How is Anderson being a bully? Bondi isn’t for LGBT equality and to now use us and this tragedy to score political points is reprehensible. The states lawyer may have made the arguments in court BUT Bondi could have instructed him to do otherwise. We all saw the writing on the wall regarding marriage equality yet Bondi CHOSE to fight for bigotry and division which is why I’m glad Anderson put her feet to the fire.
Larry says:
Bailey saying gays are harmful to children so they shouldn’t get married is NOT doing your job. It’s just bigotry.
K. Martinez says:
@Bailey – Anderson is doing his job as a reporter. I would expect no less from him. Any reporter worth their salt would grill and put a political figure under fire. It’s part of the job. I would think less of him if he didn’t do what he did in this interview. Anderson Cooper was very professional and I have to say I’m more impressed with him these days than I ever was.
Cool Curt says:
When is the right time to ‘call someone out’ for wrongdoings? It’s never too late to join the party and the LGTBQ community aren’t perfect but we somehow tend to be the most forgiving bunch of people on this planet. We really take a great deal of hostility thrown to us and towards us and yet we end up being so patient, so kind and so loving. I can’t lie, I have to mention how it would have been nice to seen this support from her and others awhile back when this little community (LGTBQ) needed some support like you can’t understand or do understand.
It took a tragedy of this magnitude to happen and now everyone from around-the-world is finally realizing how important every life on this planet really is. These incredible human beings had to die and instantly become martyrs for a cause that most of their love ones would rather have them here and not have to endure such pain, such violence at the hands of someone that was so misguided for some time.
Their untimely deaths/murders would now send this message around the world about love, patience and kindness is the only way that we are going to survive as a race, as a planet.
A mother had to openly weep, beg and plead on national TV to know the fate of her son, who was among the dead. Just seeing her was enough for the entire world to see this love that is unconditional and that all of us have to give to one another on a daily bases.
Unfortunately beautiful lives were snatched away so swiftly on this fateful night but the entire world somehow woke up and finally realized just how vital all of our lives are at ever moment of the day and night.
We all know how we got here but we are not sure how or when we are going to leave this earth. While we are here, we can’t continue to be angry or upset with one another over ideals and themes that aren’t going to matter tomorrow but seem like this big deal today.
Money, power and greed are just some of the things that shape who we are and shouldn’t because while we are here it seems important but when we look back on our lives (if we are fortunate to get older) we will look back and see if we were people that cared about others, if we gave our time, if we sacrificed for someone else other than us. If we were people that spend all day/night being judgmental and making others lives hard for them because it seemed easy to do. It takes so much work to be angry and such a thought-process to be upset and it’s so naturally fitting for your body, soul and mind to be nice, kind and even smile.
We all are different but we are all the same because we all want love, respect and kindness thrown are way.
We need more compassion, more sympathy and empathy for one another without needing anything or expecting anything in return.
It’s just the right thing to do and it’s the people that we were all born to be.
Agreeing or disagreeing is something we can’t help but doesn’t mean we can’t live together, prosper and respect one another’s differences as well as things we have in common.
We spend a great deal of time being upset about the things that we can’t change and don’t like but what about the things we do like and love and even better the things we have in common?
Anderson is just frustrated and I’m pretty sure he is going to give her a public apology and I’m sorry to feel this way but I don’t think he was wrong to ask those questions and bring up some of her past (her track record) because she is a public servant and it is her job to be open at all times about her life and how she feels and what she is going to do to make life better for the people in her state. He is a well-known TV journalist and he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the LGTBQ in good times and bad times but mainly he is a ‘people’s champion’. Many are going to criticize him for backtracking but this woman might want to come clean about her wrongdoings as well. She had nothing to do with this man (the shooter) doing what he did but there is a part of who she was yesterday (someone with not too much support or understanding about LGTBQ community) that might have had some kind of impact on him. If people from the top (the BIG WIGS, the Politico folks and folks with all the money) are being a bit standoffish about something, the everyday citizens (the people living check to check and barely scraping by) pick up on that and tend to run with it and even take a step further.
Most of the country was and still upset with President Obama for being so LGTBQ-friendly but unfortunately he would light the entire White House with ‘The Rainbow Flag Colors’.
He would share how that would be one of his proudest moments being The Commander and Chief of this still and sometimes questionable ‘great nation’.
All of us need to be taken care of and without picking or chosen who needs it more or deserves it more. Those people didn’t deserve to die at the hands of a man that could have been helped and educated but instead his hate became bigger than him. That is horrible to think that you can dislike and hate people you never met and that was Anderson’s point to her is, there is no need to dislike or go out of your way to destroy someone’s life because they don’t agree with you or you don’t agree with them.
Mark B. says:
Cooper should have focused on the Pulse nightclub tragedy and the victims, not use the interview to settle a score or make political points. Cooper is an idiot. The job of an Attorney General is not to make or change laws, that is the job of the legislature. It’s always about him and his activism, and in this case, that’s wrong.