Anderson Cooper Begins CNN Show In Cruelest Way: Imagining Donald Trump As A Uniter

Anderson Cooper started his CNN show on Friday night as he perhaps would if President Donald Trump actually used his position to unite people rather than divide them.

Good evening. At the end of another difficult and turbulent week, we begin tonight, keeping them honest, with what President Trump has been doing lately to calm the waters, to heal the divisions and give people a reason to believe that things will be better if we can all just pull together, Cooper began.

But, after a pause, he delivered the punchline:

Im kidding.

Cooper then dissected Trumps role in Israels banning of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), members of the Squad with whom Trump has publicly feuded, from entering the country over their support of the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Israel backtracked Friday on its decision to ban Tlaib from entry so she could visit her grandmother in the West Bank, but she later declined the offer because she didnt want to visit under the oppressive conditions Israel had set.

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Getting a foreign power to punish your political adversary in the United States, thats unprecedented, Cooper noted.

Check out the segment here:

.@andersoncooper: At the end of another difficult, turbulent week, we begin tonight, #KeepingThemHonest, with what President Tump has been doing to calm the waters, heal the divisions & give people a reason to believe things will be better if we can pull together.

\"I'm kidding.\" pic.twitter.com/Bh1LjXSA8O

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.@andersoncooper : At the end of another difficult, turbulent week, we begin tonight, #KeepingThemHonest , with what President Tump has been doing to calm the waters, heal the divisions & give people a reason to believe things will be better if we can pull together.

"I'm kidding." pic.twitter.com/Bh1LjXSA8O
CNN (@CNN) August 17, 2019