CNN host Anderson Cooper engaged senior White House aide Sebastian Gorka in a testy exchange Wednesday night as Gorka bashed CNN’s reporting and claimed that the media is obsessed with the Russia probes.
Gorka pushed back against Cooper’s suggestion that President Donald Trump is in “bunker mode” at the White House now that Donald Trump Jr. has revealed he met with a Russian attorney who supposedly had dirt on Hillary Clinton, knowing that the meeting was pitched as part of the Russian government’s effort to help the Trump campaign.
“Your reporter talked about a bunker mentality. I actually work in the West Wing. I work in the White House. It is absolutely nothing of the kind,” Gorka said. “The President is a steam locomotive that will not be stopped. It’s just fake news. I’m sad to see CNN fall to this. I know you want salacious, sensational coverage for your ratings so your corporate sponsors and owners will have more money but that’s not media. That’s not reportage. It’s just fake news.”
Cooper replied, “I’m just going to ignore the insults because I don’t think it really gets us anywhere.”
The CNN host then noted that the President tweeted that people should not believe anonymous sources even though Trump Jr. himself confirmed the New York Times’ reporting on the meeting.
In response, Gorka noted that CNN had to correct a report that former FBI Director James Comey would refute Trump’s claims that he was told he was not under investigation.
“That reporting was wrong and we corrected ourselves, unlike the White House, which has never corrected itself on anything,” Cooper hit back before asking Gorka if he denies that Trump Jr.’s emails proved the New York Times reporting correct.
“No. I deny the fact that there’s anything here that’s untoward,” Gorka replied, going on to tout Trump Jr.’s “transparency” and bash the “fake news industrial complex.”
Watch the clip via CNN:
