WATCH: Larry Wilmore, Young Turks Praise Anderson Cooper's On-Air Outing of Florida AG's Homophobia
In the wake of the Orlando massacre, a number of public officials have come out with newfound support for the LGBTQ community. But if you've got a history of barring gay rights, journalists may take notice. And that's exactly what happened with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi this week.
Bondi told Cooper she put an image of rainbow hands on her website, but even that was a lie.
"So you just put that up now?” Cooper asked. (Wilmore hilariously imitated that moment last night.) Because where was Bondi's support all these years? Not on Bondi's Twitter timeline, Cooper asserted.
"Absolutely, she will show respect for minority groups when there’s a stock image available,” Wilmore said. “Except, spoiler alert, there are no rainbow hands on Pam Bondi’s site. She didn’t even do the one political bullsh*t move she said she did! Here, Pam, let me help you out. It’s been 24 hours since the interview, which apparently isn’t enough time to find some rainbow hands,” Wilmore said, providing a rainbow middle finger for the Attorney General.
"No, no, no,” Wilmore continued, in response to Bondi's refusal to acknowldge her own homophobia before the Orlando massacre. “The Florida gay community already hated you… For the whole, saying, ‘gay marriage would cause public harm’ thing and insinuating ‘gay parents don’t make stable homes,’ thing. And, of course, the ‘gay friends’ excuse thing when asked about gay marriage,” Wilmore said.
“I’ve had my issues with CNN in the past. I’m technically not allowed to appear on their network,” Wilmore admitted, referencing his controversial White House Correspondents Dinner speech. “But I have to give credit where credit is due. Anderson Cooper, for doing what we should be seeing on cable news all the time, I am giving you a half-stand full clap. Way to do your job, man!”
Even John Iadarola on "The Young Turks" also took a swing at the absurdity. "I love that response," Iadarola said, as he mocked Bondi.
"I don't care. If you take away people's rights and then say, 'You're a nice person. You can't have these, but I like you,' that's not like 'Oh, you win some, you lose some.' I understand that it's super inconvenient to have to drop out of your position simply because you're upholding an incredibly immoral policy. But then you lose the ability to say you're a defender of this group!"
