CNN’s Anderson Cooper snarled at commentator Nina Turner as she gave a lecture on Palestinians suffering in Gaza during Tuesday night’s election coverage.
The panel discussed a coalition of Michigan voters who strived to get enough Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the state primary Tuesday night over the president’s support for Israel. Biden won over 78.8% of Democratic primary voters, while the “uncommitted” voters made up about 15.8%.
Turner, who worked for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign, lamented Biden for answering questions on Gaza in an ice cream shop in New York City Monday as people in the Middle East are suffering.
“And so while this president was in the ice cream shop saying ‘I think there’s gonna be a ceasefire,’ 30,000 people have been slaughtered. People are living in famine. They can’t get medical care,” Turner said. “So it can’t come soon enough for them, and that was really the weight that I picked up on when I was in Dearborn. So we get to be comfortable and talk about this like these people are widgets, when they are in fact suffering, and I am young enough to remember colleagues congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and also congresswoman Cori Bush called for a ceasefire very early on, they were called abhorrent. Now fast forward to all of these bodies laying in the wake, and people are living through his every single day.”
“By the way, there’s also been slaughter in Israel, as well,” Cooper interjected. “There’s a lot of pain on both sides. We don’t really need a lecture on the problem. But I’m talking about the politics of this tonight — what to you would be a victory for somebody calling for this vote? What to you would be a victory tonight to get that message across?”
Turner continued discussing the issue in the Middle East, causing Cooper to push back more. (RELATED: ‘Squad’ Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Urges Democrats To ‘Vote Uncommitted’ Against Joe Biden)
“I’m not denying that pain. All I’m saying [is] that at a certain point after Oct. 7, it becomes clear — I mean, you have a right-wing prime minister,” Turner continued.
“Right, we don’t need to bid issue,” Cooper stated.
“But you understand what I’m saying — I’m not denying anybody’s pain. What I’m saying is this president in our country has the power to say to Netanyahu, we need a permanent ceasefire,” Turner said.
CNN’s Bakari Sellers reiterated Cooper’s point that suffering has occurred on both sides, and added there are “tangible results” the White House has an opportunity to deliver on.
Voting “uncommitted” in the Michigan Democratic primary was promoted by the group Listen To Michigan. According to their website, they wanted to “… convey a firm message of our persistent demand for ceasefire and an end to financing Israel’s war crimes and genocide in Gaza.”
The group highlighted a video statement from Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib about how “proud” she was to vote “uncommitted” Tuesday.
A statement from @RashidaTlaib on voting uncommitted in Michigan today. pic.twitter.com/xOfOcYTFQn
— #ListenToMichigan (@Listen2michigan) February 27, 2024
“I was proud today to walk in and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted. We must protect our democracy. We must make sure our government is about us, about the people. When 74% of Democrats in Michigan support a ceasefire, yet President Biden isn’t hearing us, this is a way we can use our democracy to say, ‘Listen … No more using our dollars to fund a genocide. No more,'” Tlaib stated in the video.