Joy Reid Rips Anderson Cooper For Defending CNN's Trump Town Hall

MSNBC host Joy Reid on Friday panned broadcaster Anderson Cooper for his defense of a recent CNN recent town hall with former President Donald Trump . (Watch the video below.)

Reids remarks came amid widespread criticism of Wednesdays televised event, which saw Trump make multiple untrue and inflammatory remarks such as calling journalist E. Jean Carroll a whack job after she prevailed against him in a sexual abuse lawsuit earlier in the week.

We begin with the continued cleanup on aisle five at CNN , said Reid.

The host looked at supposed comments from CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht, who reportedly went to bat for the town hall after it aired. According to media reports , Licht also called a meeting with reporter Oliver Darcy after the CNN staffer suggested that the broadcast failed to provide any benefit to viewers.

Reid then analyzed comments from Cooper, saying that he had taken to scolding his own viewers. Critics have slammed Cooper for defending his networks Trump-friendly town hall audience, describing it as a sampling of about half the country .

Now that is what you call a straw man argument, Reid said.

Cooper: You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again. But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away? pic.twitter.com/xzVEgaGeDT

Acyn (@Acyn) May 12, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Acyn","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Acyn","cache_age":86400,"description":"Cooper: You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again. But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away? pic.twitter.com/xzVEgaGeDT Acyn (@Acyn) May 12, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1656813516848865281/pu/img/W9qM0qnsVxXwVAt8.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Acyn on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1656813612491501568","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"645eff13e4b005be8ff3976a","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/joy-reid-anderson-cooper-town-hall_n_645eff13e4b005be8ff3976a","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,cnn,msnbc,anderson-cooper,joy-reid","sectionSlug":"media","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.media","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/01eb897e-d36c-4383-b180-bfe68d370d8e/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":13},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"645eff13e4b005be8ff3976a","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"CNN","slug":"cnn","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/cnn","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"CNN","slug":"cnn","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/cnn"},{"name":"MSNBC","slug":"msnbc","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/msnbc","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/msnbc","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/msnbc"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"MSNBC","slug":"msnbc","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/msnbc"},{"name":"Anderson Cooper","slug":"anderson-cooper","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/anderson-cooper","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/anderson-cooper","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/anderson-cooper"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"Anderson Cooper","slug":"anderson-cooper","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/anderson-cooper"},{"name":"Joy Reid","slug":"joy-reid","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/joy-reid","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/joy-reid","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/joy-reid"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"Joy Reid","slug":"joy-reid","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/joy-reid"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Cooper: You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again. But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away? pic.twitter.com/xzVEgaGeDT
Acyn (@Acyn) May 12, 2023

She added that voters didnt need a Trump pep rally to understand who he is.

He literally posts his garbage views on his fake Twitter every day, and every media outlet reports on it, Reid said, apparently referring to the former presidents Truth Social platform.

We get it a lot of people like it and vote for it. But we dont need CNN or ... Anderson Cooper to lecture us about how we should be forced to endure it, or that we should just get used to it. Because some of us actually know that that stuff is wrong.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

(H/T Mediaite )