Now that’s a 360-degree scolding. CNN’s Anderson Cooper scolded Donald Trump on air during the network’s town hall on Tuesday, March 29, telling the GOP presidential front-runner that his argument was that of a child.
Cooper, 48, brought up Trump’s ominous threat from March 22, when the real estate mogul tweeted at Ted Cruz that he would “spill the beans” on his opponent’s wife, Heidi Cruz. Trump followed up by retweeting an unflattering pic of Heidi next to one of his wife, Melania Trump.
“@Don_Vito_08: “A picture is worth a thousand words” @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8“
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
“I thought it was a nice picture of Heidi,” Trump claimed to Cooper. “I thought it was fine. I thought it was fine. She’s a pretty woman.”
The longtime CNN reporter replied: “Come on! You’re running for President of the United States.” Trump’s response, however, wasn’t exactly presidential.
“Excuse me. Excuse me! I didn’t start it,” the former Apprentice star complained. “I didn’t start it!” While the audience chuckled at Trump’s response, Cooper had a scathing remark for the presidential hopeful.
“Sir, with all due respect, that’s the argument of a 5-year-old,” replied Cooper, the son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. “The argument of a 5-year-old is ‘He started it.'”
Trump, though, did not back down. “No, no, no. That’s the problem,” the Republican mogul said. “You would say that. That’s the problem with our country. That’s the problem.”
This isn’t the first time Trump and Cooper have butted heads. In a July 2015 interview, Trump ripped into the Anderson Cooper 360 host and told the journalist that “the people don’t trust him.” At the time, the business man was leading in preliminary polls, and Cooper raised one in which he was trailing.
“You only want to bring up the negative. Why don’t you bring up the positive?” the real estate mogul said at the time. “All I know is I have a very big group of support, and I think one of the reasons is the people don’t trust you, and the people don’t trust the media. And I understand why.”
Watch his latest confrontation with Cooper above.
