Critics called the broadcaster “shameful” for hosting the event in the first place, which Cooper said was “disturbing” and “terrible.” He also said it was “disturbing” to hear the audience “laugh and applaud his lies.”
“A lot of you think CNN shouldn’t have given him a platform to talk to, and I understand the anger about that,” Cooper said. “But I get that too: The man who saw and heard you so distraught last night? This man is the front runner for the Republican nomination for President.”
Cooper then lashed out at critics who don’t want to hear from Trump — and don’t want CNN to give him the platform.
“Do you think that if you stay in your silo and only listen to people you agree with, that person will go away?” he asked. “If we all just listened to those we agree with, it could actually do the opposite.”
CNN’s critics point out that Trump’s behavior is entirely consistent with everything he’s said and done since announcing his first presidential candidacy in 2015 — and that CNN was merely giving him a prime-time platform to continue spreading those lies .
They called out Cooper and the network on Twitter: