Anderson Cooper calls out Republican guest who says Trump’s wild remarks are just a New Yorker thing

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Things got intense on CNN when host Anderson Cooper clashed with former lieutenant governor of California Abel Maldonado over former president Donald Trump’s wild statements.

The Wednesday night, October 16 interview quickly spiraled as Cooper called out Maldonado's defense of Trump, leading to some on-air swearing from the usually composed host.

Heated back-and-forth

The backdrop to the exchange involves several high-profile military officials who served under Donald Trump but later criticized his actions and demeanor as president. These include General John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff who accused Trump of making demeaning remarks about soldiers, and General Mark Milley, who has openly called Trump “fascist to the core.”

But Maldonado wasn’t having it. He pushed back, arguing that these criticisms only surfaced after these officials had left their positions. “A lot of these people, Anderson, when they're working for him, he's a good guy. They're only coming after President Trump after they leave, or they've been fired, one of the two,” he said.

Cooper wasn’t buying it, and neither was Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein who was also on the panel. Bernstein asked Maldonado if he believed Trump was a fascist. When Maldonado rejected the label, Bernstein asked him if Trump said “fascistic things.”

Maldonado described Trump as a classic New Yorker: “He's a New Yorker. He's a fighter, he's a leader,” he responded.

But this is where Cooper’s frustration boiled over. “You’re from California. The kids in the Central Park Five, they were actually New Yorkers,” Cooper snapped. “So, the idea that Donald Trump is a New Yorker and this is what New Yorkers say, is just bulls**t.”

Cooper’s reference to the Central Park Five cut deep. For those who do not know, the Central Park Five were a group of five Black teenagers wrongly convicted of a brutal r*pe in 1989 — a case that gripped New York City. They were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence cleared their names.

Trump faced backlash at the time when he famously took out full-page ads in several New York newspapers, calling for the death penalty for the five teens before their convictions were overturned.

Anderson Cooper dismisses Abel Maldonado’s defense

However, Abel Maldonado doubled down as he defended his point. “I’m from California, and we look at New York as, you know, they’re fighters. They’re strong. They tell it like it is. They’ll say it out loud,” he insisted, suggesting that Trump’s blunt approach was just part of his New Yorker persona.

But Cooper wasn’t having any of it. “But that’s a comic book,” he shot back, dismissing the stereotype. “I mean, again, there's eight million people in the city.”

The disagreement only got more heated from there. Maldonado argued that Trump hadn’t changed over the years, suggesting it was the military leaders who had suddenly turned against him. According to him, these officials had originally supported Trump’s vision but turned on him after disagreements or being let go.

“They went to work to help America, to help President Trump, and all of a sudden they have a disagreement. They move on. And then he's a ‘fascist,’” Maldonado argued.

But Cooper wasn’t letting Maldonado’s narrative slide, especially when it came to the credibility of the military officials. He pushed back by questioning the idea that men like General Milley and General Kelly were fabricating their accounts.

“So, you believe that highly decorated General Milley, General Kelly, who was the chief of staff, whose son died serving this country, you believe that they are making stuff up?” he challenged.

Maldonado denied that he was accusing them of lying. Instead, he tried to shift the conversation back to Trump’s unchanged personality: “Donald Trump in 2016 when he ran, you know, who he was, you know who he is. That's who he is. Trump is not gonna change ever,” he insisted, as quoted by Mediaite.

Donald Trump’s alleged remarks on military

The interview touched on some of the most damning claims about Donald Trump, some of which are documented in Bob Woodward’s book 'War'. In the book, General Mark Milley described the former president as “the most dangerous person ever” and voiced concerns about his mental state.

"He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he's a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country," Milley said.

Kelly, for his part, claimed that Trump had insulted decorated military veterans by allegedly calling them “suckers” and “losers.” He also said Trump didn’t want to be seen with military amputees because “it doesn’t look good for me.”