Anderson Cooper addressed his previous comment that Trump’s performance at the press conference with Putin was “disgraceful” when he stopped by The Late Show with Andy Cohen on Wednesday (July 18).
“You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader truly that I’ve ever seen,” Cooper said following the press conference while covering the event for CNN.
When host Stephen Colbert brought up the comment, Cooper reiterated the sentiment before the audience cheered. “It just popped out,” he said. “I’m not saying it proudly or gleefully. It just popped out. It was the first thing I said. As soon as the press conference was done, it just sort of popped out of my mouth.”
“But you heard he changed one of the words, right?” asked Colbert, in reference to Trump claiming he meant to ask why “wouldn’t” Russia be involved with the 2016 election as opposed to why “would” it be involved.
“Yes, I did. Well, that all makes sense now. Yeah, it’s very clear,” said Cooper. The CNN host then jokingly agreed with Colbert that Trump’s mix-up makes his performance “graceful” not “disgraceful.” Cooper added that “he has the best words, as he told us during the campaign.”
Colbert noted that he believes Trump’s work during the press conference should not be considered a performance. “It’s not a performance. He is the president. He’s just disgraceful,” said the host. “If it’s a performance, it’s even worse.”
“I see what you’re saying,” responded Cooper.
“It’s funny, though. Wherever I go, Andy always texts me, and it’s often very incongruous to what I’m actually doing,” said the CNN host. “So I’m in Helsinki. I’m on the air for a good 12 hours on and off throughout the course of the day. I keep getting texts, and I check them during commercial breaks, and it’s from Andy saying, ‘So how hot are the guys in Helsinki?’ I’m like, ‘I’m on the air.'”
Cohen interjected and said, “By the way, when you were in Helsinki, I was hosting the New York Real Housewives Reunion. Would anyone like to hear about that?”
After receiving a round of applause from the audience, Cohen tried to compare his line of work to Cooper’s. “Well, much like Trump and Putin, Carole and Bethenny…” he began before hitting his fists together.
“Hasn’t Bethenny now put out a statement correcting some of the words she used?” asked Cooper before Cohen responded, “This is a classic Housewife apology. I mean for real.”
Colbert then jokingly added that Bethenny Frankel’s statement went something like, “What I meant to say was you’re a whore.”
Cooper added that Cohen believes their two careers are ultimately the same. “Oh totally. He was hosting Housewives reunions for two years,” said Cohen. Cooper retorted, “Those were presidential debates.”
Related Stories
“He stole my bit. He ends the Trump-Clinton bit by saying the only thing you can say when everything is going scorched earth at a Housewives reunion,” said Cohen. “I’ve done it on three reunions. ‘Can everybody say something nice about each other in the room?’ And he did it with them. That’s my thing!”
“It was a town hall debate, and that was an audience question,” corrected Cooper.
Colbert concluded the segment by getting back into serious current event topics. “How hot are the guys in Helsinki, Anderson?” he asked. “‘Cause we buried the lead here.”
Watch the full segment above.
