CNN host Anderson Cooper ended a segment on his show as CNN contributors Steve Cortes and Wajahat Ali both accused the other person of supporting racism and bigotry.
“So the people who call out racism are racist, and when Donald Trump says racist things it’s our fault because we call out the racism and hate,” Ali said during a Monday night CNN segment, mocking Cortes for being upset that he had called supporters of President Trump racist. “If you support Donald Trump’s agenda right now in 2019 after everything that he’s done, you might not be a racist, Steve. Let me say this. You might not be a racist, but you’re fine with endorsing and supporting a racist president, and you have to look yourself in the mirror right now in 2019 and ask yourself is it worth it? Why am I supporting a racist president?”
Cortes responded by calling his comments “demagoguery.”
“Steve, they’ll never love you,” Ali told Cortes, who served on Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council. “The white nationalists will never love you, no matter how hard you try to be the Latin face of Trump, they’ll never love you.”
“Again, this is you being bigoted,” Cortes shot back. “You’re being bigoted toward me.”
“So there is no bigotry,” Cooper cut in. “The only bigotry in your opinion is on the left. Fascinating.”
Cooper then cut to commercial as Cortes continued to talk and Ali told Cortes to “Be best.”
Much of the debate in the segment focused on an article Ali had tweeted from the Daily Beast which accused all Trump voters of being racist.
“Trump Is a Racist. If You Still Support Him, So Are You,” Ali said on Twitter, repeating the title of the article.
Trump Is a Racist. If You Still Support Him, So Are You. https://t.co/F9FQvg6B4Y via @thedailybeast
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) July 14, 2019
After the segment, Cortes took to Twitter to accuse Ali of espousing racism during the segment.
“Tonight, my CNN colleague @WajahatAli resorted to the most racist and condescending insult I’ve ever heard, telling me ‘they will never love you.’ As if I’m some brown fool earnestly trying to earn the favor of white Trump supporters. Shameful,” Cortes said. “Unlike you, @WajahatAli, I don’t view all politics through the prism of race. I oppose the radical ideas of those Congresswomen, not their race. I similarly reject your bigotry toward the millions in our movement, and not your ethnicity.”
Tonight, my CNN colleague @WajahatAli resorted to the most racist and condescending insult I’ve ever heard, telling me “they will never love you.” As if I’m some brown fool earnestly trying to earn the favor of white Trump supporters. Shameful. https://t.co/l0xDCB5CuM
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) July 16, 2019
Unlike you, @WajahatAli, I don’t view all politics through the prism of race. I oppose the radical ideas of those Congresswomen, not their race. I similarly reject your bigotry toward the millions in our movement, and not your ethnicity. https://t.co/v7ZiUi6ztb
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) July 16, 2019
Ali responded to Cortes’ accusation by saying he was not being more condescending than Trump.
“But was it more racist and condescending than Trump telling 4 US Congresswomen to go back to their countries, Steve? More racist than saying black and brown immigrants come from shithole countries? More racist than saying Jews fund a caravan of immigrant invaders? Be best,” Ali said.
“I was in my lane and driving sober,” Ali added in another tweet linking in an article with the segment.
But was it more racist and condescending than Trump telling 4 US Congresswomen to go back to their countries, Steve? More racist than saying black and brown immigrants come from shithole countries? More racist than saying Jews fund a caravan of immigrant invaders? Be best. https://t.co/L89bZMtG2a
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) July 16, 2019
I was in my lane and driving sober.
CNN Panel on Trump’s Demagoguery Goes Off the Rails: ‘The White Nationalists Will Never Love You’ https://t.co/8D7eAlTWx5 via @mediaite
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) July 16, 2019
