CNN anchor Anderson Cooper spent his Tuesday afternoon trying desperately to win another Emmy.
Speaking with Florida Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi in Orlando, Cooper was less interested in her response to the nightclub terrorist attack that killed 49 than in berating her for what he characterized as hypocrisy with regard to the LGBT community.
Cooper argued that, because Bondi argued a case against gay marriage in Florida, she couldn't possibly want to help the community heal after Sunday's terrorist attack.
In a rhetorical coup, he pointed out that Bondi "never even tweeted about gay pride month."
Cooper’s questions and statements included:
"I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday who are not fans of yours and who said that they thought you were being a hypocrite, that you for years have fought—you'd basically gone after gay people, said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality for trying to do harm to the people of Florida. To induce public harm, I believe was the term you used in court. Do you really think you're a champion of the gay community?"
"Do you worry about using language accusing gay people of trying to do harm to the people of Florida when doesn't that send a message to some people who might have bad ideas in mind?"
"The hotline that you've been talking about on television which allows family members and spouses of the dead to get information, which is incredibly important, and appreciate you talking about on the air, had there been no gay marriage, no same-sex marriage, you do realize that spouses, there would be no spouses, that boyfriends and girlfriends of the dead would not be able to get information and would not be able to visit in the hospital here. Isn't there a sick irony in that?"
"It is about gay and lesbian victims ... I’m just wondering though, is it hypocritical to portray yourself as a champion of the gay community when—I'm just reflecting what gay people told me they don't see you as that."
"I will say I have never really seen you talk about gays and lesbians and transgender people in a positive way until now. I read your Twitter history for the last year and I saw you tweeting about, you know, national dog month and national shelter dog appreciation day or adopt a shelter dog month. It is gay pride month. You never even tweeted about gay pride month."
"So that’s your message to gay and lesbian people here. Because, again, I'm just telling you what people have been telling me to ask you. Moving forward, do you see yourself as being a vocal champion for gay and lesbian citizens in the state?"
"I know a lot of gay and lesbian people in the state want to feel that the people that represent them, represent everybody in the state."
Gawker loved it, predictably. So did the Washington Post, Slate, ThinkProgress, the New York Daily News, Fusion, Uproxx and other sites.