WHAT A 'SCUMBAG' POLITICIAN LOOKS LIKE: Anderson Cooper Has Frustrating Exchange With Nazi-Comparing Rep.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper became visibly frustrated last night while interviewing Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) about his comments comparing Republicans to a Nazi propagandist. Flummoxed, confused, and shocked might also sum up Cooper’s reaction.

In short, Cooper tried to explain to Cohen why his comments were unnecessary and over the line, and repeatedly tried to get Cohen to to see the hypocrisy of his words as Republicans are repeatedly ridiculed for theirs. But, alas, Cohen just could not, or would not, understand Cooper’s point. During the interview, you can almost imagine Cooper holding his head in his hands and rolling his eyes off camera.

It’s important to note, as Cooper does, that Cohen recently wrote an op-ed explaining “Reckless and hateful speech often has a terrible human cost.” Yet Cohen defends his comments by saying he was simply speaking “off the cuff.”

Mediate sums it up quite well:

Cohen again tried to make himself look better by saying Politifact (not him) that named the idea of a “government takeover of health care” as the lie of 2010. Cooper continued banging his head against the wall trying to get Cohen to realize what he was doing, but Cohen simply concluded, “I won’t say it again, but I was right.” Video of reason failing to get through to abject cluelessness, via CNN, below.