CNN anchor Anderson Cooper apologized to former New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu for brashly telling him off on-air.
The Republican politician, 50, appeared on Tuesday’s episode of Cooper’s 360 talk show to discuss Elon Musk’s dramatic plans to slash government spending.
Earlier that day, the tech billionaire joined President Donald Trump for an Oval Office press conference, where they defended the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to enact major cost-cutting ventures.
“It was surreal,” Sununu said of the press conference. “But I’ve got to tell you, I know what you’re not showing here. Musk gave seven specific examples off the top of his head of where the corruption and fraud were.
“He was talking about a contractor that had a three-month contract. He was paid for 20 years. He was talking about welfare benefits that were being paid to someone that was technically 150 years old,” he continued.
Cooper stepped in to note that Musk “doesn’t present any actual evidence.”
“He’s standing there in the Oval Office. Do you expect him to come in with 10,000 pages?” Sununu hit back, rejecting critics’ “insane” complaints about the current administration’s transparency.
“This president takes open questions on a daily basis, yet Joe Biden didn’t show up for a press conference in sixth months,” he said. “These guys are being extremely transparent. They don’t have to sit there and take the questions. But they do.”
“It’s not transparency to say things that have no factual background,” CNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin argued back, adding that broadly declaring they’ve found billions of dollars in waste with “no specifics” is “just talk.”
“It’s 23 days in here, guys. 23 days,” Sununu said, exasperated. “You’re talking about $2.3 billion that was saved last year. These guys are saving $2.3 billion a day.”
After some continued back and forth, Cooper went on to say that “some of the details” that Musk has brought up are misleading, including the claim that $59 million in FEMA funds were used to pay for “high-end hotels” for New York migrants.
Sununu interjected: “You’re talking about the FEMA money that was abused for migrants. That was FEMA money for migrants. That’s OK now?”
“No, I’m not saying it’s OK,” Cooper answered. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
Sununu then pressed Cooper, asking: “Would you stop that? Would you stop that process?”
“Don’t be a dick,” Anderson told Sununu. “What I’m saying is, the portrayal by [Musk] is just not factually accurate.”
At the end of the segment, Anderson stepped in to apologize to Sununu for being “rude.” “I apologize. I don’t know why I said that. I feel bad about it,” he said.
“Are you kidding? I grew up with seven brothers and sisters,” Sununu laughed. “I’m a former governor. You want to know what I’m normally called? That’s one of the nicest things I’ve been called all week.”
