On his show Monday night, CNN's Anderson Cooper told viewers that while he typically ignores conspiracy theorists, he wasn't going to let an "idiotic" tweet making the rounds go without explanation.
On Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a photo of Cooper in waist-deep floodwaters, with the caption: "It's a shame that CNN's ratings are down 41 percent. What's worse is there's a simple solution that they refuse to accept. Stop Lying to try to make @realDonaldTrump look bad." Other Twitter users circulated the photo, falsely claiming it showed Cooper on his knees to make it look like the water was deeper. This was dumb for a variety of reasons, including that the photo was from September 2008, when Cooper was covering Hurricane Ike in Texas.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As if that wasn't enough evidence, Cooper noted that a member of his crew included in the photo, veteran CNN audio tech Doug Thomas, died a year ago this month. "We miss him every day," Cooper said. Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are British rappers the world’s best?Podcast Plus can the Maldives quit smoking? And can whales lead us to immortality?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A leap through the leaves, a typhoon's aftermath, and more
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
