Anderson Cooper Addresses Backlash To CNN’s Town Hall With Donald Trump: “I Get It. It Was Disturbing”

deadline.com:

CNN’s Anderson Cooper devoted a portion of his primetime program to address the backlash against the network for its town hall with Donald Trump, in which the Republican spewed lies and misinformation before a friendly, cheering audience. “You have every right to be outraged and angry and never watch this network again,” Cooper told viewers. “But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?” Cooper’s comments were a defense of the network’s decision to go forward with the town hall, plans that drew criticism for the past week as many predicted that moderator Kaitlan Collins would be able to fully fact-check Trump in real time.

While she did try to call out some of his misinformation, Trump seemed emboldened by the friendly audience, and at times veered from one topic to the next, and never conceded that the 2020 presidential election was legitimate. “Many of you have expressed deep anger and disappointment,” Cooper said. “Many of you are upset that someone who attempted to destroy our democracy was invited to sit on the stage in front of a crowd of Republican voters to answer questions, and predictably continued to spew lie after lie after lie.

And I get it. It was disturbing.” After running through a list of Trump’s falsehoods and outrageous comments, Cooper said “it was certainly disturbing to hear that audience young and old, our fellow citizens, people who love their kids and go to church, laugh and applaud his lies.

And his continued defamation of a woman who according to a jury of his peers, he sexually abused and defamed.” Perhaps most disturbing was when Trump was asked about a jury’s $5 million verdict finding him liable for sexually