CNN's Anderson Cooper apologized on Friday night (May 19th) for a "crude" remark he made on his show, AC360, that night to Jeffrey Lord, a pro-Trump advocate who appears often on CNN. The comment came after Lord said he doesn't care that Trump reportedly told Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting after he fired FBI Director James Comey two weeks ago that Comey was, quote, "crazy, a real nut job," and said, "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off." Cooper shot back to Lord of Trump: "If he took a dump on his desk, you would defend it. I don't know what he would do that you would not defend." Lord laughed at the comment, but Cooper apologized soon after, and then tweeted later: "I regret the crude sentence i spoke earlier tonight and followed it up by apologizing on air. It was unprofessional. I am genuinely sorry." Lord took it in stride, and praised Cooper in a tweet afterward, adding: "Message America? It's ok 2 laugh."
This latest incident came after Cooper faced some criticism for rolling his eyes during a recent interview with Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway.