CNN anchor Anderson Cooper tore into Donald Trump Jr. on Monday after the president’s son appeared to accuse him of exaggerating the depths of Florence floodwaters in an attempt to make his father look bad, the Huffington Post reports.
Trump Jr. took to Twitter Sunday posting a picture of the veteran journalist standing waist-deep in water while his cameraman stands on higher ground. “Stop Lying to try to make @realDonaldTrump look bad.” he wrote.
It’s a shame that CNN‘s ratings are down 41%. What’s worse is there’s a simple solution that they refuse to accept. Stop Lying to try to make @realDonaldTrump look bad.
— Donald Trump Jr.
Former Trump administration official Gavin Smith also posted another picture of Cooper in the same scenario. “Disgraceful!” Smith tweeted. “Hurricane Florence wasn’t enough” for Cooper, “so he had to exaggerate for his live shot” Smith called the coverage fake news.
Cooper, who said he rarely responded to “online conspiracy theorists of cable new cranks,” used 10 minutes of his Monday night broadcast to respond to Trump Jr.’s attacks.
“The idea that I am kneeling in water to make it look deep is frankly idiotic,” Cooper said before explaining why that his crew needed to be standing on higher ground to keep the cameras dry.
Cooper, who has “covered hurricanes for about 14 years,” also said that the photo wasn’t taken during Hurricane Florence but was taken in 2008 during Hurricane Ike.