The claws are out.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is pissed at Anderson Cooper after he called her out on live television for claiming to be a “champion” of LGBTQ rights in the wake of the Orlando shooting when her record suggests otherwise. But Anderson isn’t having any of it.
Related: Anderson Cooper Rails Against Florida AG: Are You Really A ‘Champion’ Of Gay Rights?
It all started earlier this week when Anderson was interviewing Pam about the immediate aftermath of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub and her claiming to an LGBTQ ally.
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Said Anderson:
I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday who are not fans of yours and said that they thought you were being a hypocrite, that you, for years, have fought—you’ve basically gone after gay people, said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality were trying to do harm to the people of Florida. Do you really think you’re a champion of the gay community?
He then brought up a brief Pam filed in May 2014 arguing gay marriage was “disrupting Florida’s existing marriage laws would impose significant public harm.” The case cost Florida taxpayers around $500,000 and was ultimately unsuccessful.
Pam awkwardly sidestepped the question, insisting she “never said I didn’t like gay people” and that she was only “doing my job.” Immediately after the interview aired, she claimed the whole thing was unfairly edited then went on her local radio station to accuse Anderson of choosing to “encourage anger and hate” instead of using his platform as “champion for the LGBT community” to help victims.
Related: Thrice-Divorced Florida Attorney General Calls Gay Families Unstable
But Anderson’s refuses to accept her spin on things. In a segment on AC360 last night, he responded to Pam’s claims, blasting her for misrepresenting the interview and ignoring the larger, more important issue.
Said Anderson:
The fact is, Attorney General Bondi signed off on a 2014 federal court brief that claimed married gay people would pose ‘significant public harm’. Harm. She spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money. Gay and straight taxpayers money, trying to keep gays and lesbians from getting the right to marry. Now look, good people can and do disagree on that issue. everyone has a right to their own opinion thank goodness. But Ms. Bondi is championing right now her efforts to help survivors but the very right which allows gay spouses to bury their dead loved ones – that’s a right that would not exist if Ms Bondi had had her way. I think it’s fair to ask her about that.
Check out the video below…
Billy Budd
The bitch deserves to be put in her place.
Dave Downunder
For someone in public office she is not terribly eloquent and her uncertainty and pauses in that radio statement is probably the result of the fact that she knows what she is saying is not entirely true. She very much sounds like she is scrambling to do damage control.
andy_d
Give Pam Bondi a call during business hours and give her a piece of your mind: 850-245-0140. You can also fax her at: 850-487-2564.
KiwiJello
She went down there to “help these people”.
“These people”
Enough said.
mauikamaaina
Anderson is not the “silver fox”. Hear him ROAR!…He is the SILVER LION!
No
WE WILL NEVER FORGET, PAM BONDI. To hell with you.
GC1985
Maybe a bribery indictment will shut her up. She took bribes from Trump.
Dirk12
Right on Anderson. However, Florida spent more than maybe you think, well over a million dollars of taxpayer’s money trying to defend a law that was clearly unconstitutional and simply blatant discrimination. If Pam had any common sense, she wouldn’t have tried to defend it. Florida is on the hook for the plaintiff’s legal fees as well, which alone total over $700,000 dollars. She argued that gay marriage destroyed families, while she has been divorced twice. After the ruling, a federal judge had to order her more than once, to stop playing dumb concerning the court’s ruling, (Pam: which district? all or just that one?) stop stalling on implementing gay marriage in the state of Florida, and to stop wasting Florida taxpayer’s money, until she finally complied. Pam is a poster child for hypocrisy.
Bad Ass Biker
Great picture of an arrogant looking bitch.
[email protected]
Why do stupid people pick fights with smart people? Bravo Anderson Cooper!
DCguy
To those of you who kept flipping out and coming on here attacking the idea that people like Anderson Cooper should come out, stating “What difference would it make?”
Well….this here, this is the difference that it makes.
desertguy
AT a time that is become more crucial than ever for the LGBT Community to pull together for strength, hope and solidarity for the 49 people killed and countless others injured, we now have Anderson Cooper throwing stones and jabs at Florida State Attorney General Pam Bondi. Pam Bondi has stepped up to the plate and has become an ally for the victims and injured…and the rest!
Anderson Cooper, as I recall, hid in the closet for many years before “coming out” 4 years ago. Such a joke…everyone knew. And now Anderson has become a champion of gay rights and the number 1 self appointed champion of the gay community? Think again. I stand aside from that one.
Say what you may, but I feel Pam Bondi had jumped into the middle of an atrocity that never should have happened, and even though it did, the Attorney General is handling herself in a very professional, caring manner. Let her do her job. The time that Anderson is using to grill her about the past, is time that she should be using for the hear and now. Not defending herself from and angry reporter.
Just at bit of information…State Attorney Generals are bound by the laws of the states they represent. Not on their own free will. Unlike news reporters that can say what they want and twist situations to their advantage.
Anderson…I challenge you to do the same. Stay in the here and now. We need to move forward. Not be pull us backwards.
Pam Bondi…I support you in this very trying and difficult time. As do many of my friends. Anderson…I just switch stations.
Alistair Wiseman
@DCguy:
Please! What he did was not determinant on his sexual orientation.
If he wanted to be a true journalist in which his sexual orientation was a factor, why isn’t he using the same interview style to drill the Imam at Omar Mateen’s mosque?
A gay man interviewing the Iman of a man who just slaughtered 49 primary gay and lesbian human souls would be journalism and something newsworthy.
A liberal like Anderson Cooper and his ilk would ever engage in such true and justified journalism.
davidnathan
@DCguy: Well said, you hit the nail on the head. It DOES matter when people stand up with pride about who they are. I live in Florida and Pam Bondi is the face of anti-gay hatred in this state, with our Medicare fraudster of a governor hiding right behind her.
Alistair Wiseman
It was reported that Muslim Democrat murderer Omar Mateen was a member of an online group run by former U.S. Marine Marcus Dwayne Robertson, who now goes by Iman “Abu Taubah.” Robertson leads the Fundamental Islamic Knowledge group in Florida. Mr. Robertson denies this connection.
Was it Anderson Cooper that interviewed the Iman connected to Omar Mateen? No, it was Fox News! (Or as many of you so cleverly and originally call it “Faux News”.) Greta Van Susteren (who I don’t consider a conservative) has recently interviewed him twice.
Oh, and by the way, the Iman is a Bernie Sanders supporter. 🙁
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/imam-on-fox-facetiously-says-some-journalists-need-to-be-beheaded/#ooid=psMGs1NDE6FSUMTCDWq-8G_aJV3GPDRn
GC1985
@Alistair Wiseman: Verbal diarrhea source with no real corroboration. Omar Mateen was a lunatic drunk who drank himself to insanity. Muslims aren’t even allowed to drink. Your assertions, along with your garbage source, shows how wrong you are. You have been wrong since the shooting. So take your bullsh*t and leave.
GC1985
@desertguy: Totally wrong! Pam Biondi has done next to nothing for our community and has done nothing throughout this tragedy. Stepped up and did what? Provide lip service to the media? She is the one that supports Florida’s shambolic and weak gun control laws and she took bribes from Donald Trump.
She needs to be indicted for her corruption. Lip service won’t powder it over.
He BGB
Back on topic, we should defend Andy, not the hypocritical skag. She represents so many like her (and there will be more) who when it serves them best try to be a hero. She’s out of her league, obviously, with Anderson. Now she should just shut up and have a seat.
rickhfx
@desertguy:
Pam is a bigot and cannot defend her hateful actions. she got called out, like every str8 bastard from this point on, they will be called out. We know and name our enemies, they can’t hide anymore.
It is also no one’s business when or how someone comes out, bigot.
reallygoodthings
Good for Anderson standing up to her duplicitous public persona at this time, when she can cash in on lots of media. Same with fucking marco rubio standing in front of the club declaring his support for the LGBT community. Liars, all of them.
rickhfx
@davidnathan:
She the Anita Bryant of our time, how precious.
daveku
@Alistair Wiseman: You better be care Alistair….Spewing facts that distract from the normal spin that is going on, just might get your gay card revoked! It seems to me that not long ago President Obama AND Hillary were against gay marriage. ( Oh yea, they evolved.. that’s right.)People are forgetting that, other than it being a gay club, the shooter did not utter one…. not a single derogatory slur towards the gay patrons. He praised Allah, and he denounced America. We need to remember that. I am gay. I’m disgusted with what happened, but if we keep fighting amongst our self, casting judgement, and blaming others for what happened to AMERICAN CITIZENS IN AMERICA, we have lost.
da90027
She is a fucking hypocrite and as we all know stupid arrogant people do not like to be called out on TV and when they are they usually are at a loss for words like this stupid bitch was.
Alistair Wiseman
@daveku:
“…the shooter did not utter…. not a single derogatory slur towards the gay patrons. He praised Allah, and he denounced America. We need to remember that.”
Are you kidding me? Even if that is true, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!!?!! ‘Well, since he slaughtered 49 people without a “single derogatory slur” I guess that makes it okay.’
One of the most morally bankrupt statements I have ever heard.
tjr101
This is the same woman that took a bribe from Donald Trump to drop the case against the Orange Hitler’s fraudulent Trump University.
scott747
Any State Attorney General who didn’t respond to Cooper’s question with “My job as Florida State Attorney General is to defend the laws of the state regardless of my personal opinion” is simply unqualified for this position. Ms. Bondi is simply a bald faced liar and hypocrite.
GC1985
@abnerbha: Go away idiot. None of the victims were. You have no clue what you are talking about. Your pedophilia argument is debunked stupidity. The vast majority of victims are girls. Either way that has no relevance here. Take your hateful bigotry somewhere else.
GayEGO
I hate to say it because I am a blonde, but Pam Bondi is simply a dump blonde.
richg813
There are two things I can’t stand about Pam Bondi…HER FACE!
Jaroslaw
@desertguy: I understand and agree with much of what your saying but prosecutors have discretion over which cases they prosecute. Trust me, I have a lot of involvement with the courts, there are a LOT of cases which should be prosecuted but do not.
niwde
So Conservative right wings are trolling gay sites now to spew their moronic hateful ideology. I bet you after posting their vile comments their off to jerking at the photos’ of the hot half naked guys from the site.
Daniel-Reader
Was she thinking no one was paying attention to what she has done in the past? When the top attorney or other executives in a state – be it Florida or Texas – undermine the rule of law by being so partisan in dealing with the public it is always appalling. Why does she think anyone would trust her given her past actions? What world is she living in? So many politicians these days once elected only serve some of the public.
Dirtybird_Mary
Yet another reason to avoid Florida, …the colon of the Eastern seaboard.
Dee Omally
Pam bondi is very, very pretty, and Cooper is very, very correct.
martinbakman
@desertguy: Are state AGs required to claim that gays cause harm?
Why did she bother to jump in? What good was it supposed to do other than pave the way for her own political gain?
desertguy
@GC1985:
Pam Bondi has done nothing? I beg to differ. She is working tirelessly to ensure the 49 victims receive a proper burial with the dignity and respect that each and every one of them deserve. She is going after Funeral Home’s that are jacking the prices on caskets and funeral service. Ensuring the dead have a place to be buried. Lip service to the media? I feel she has handled herself admirably!
If you feel so strongly about “Florida’s shambolic and weak gun control laws”, then you stop giving lip service and get out there and do something about it.
Action works…And speaks louder than words. Put some action into it.
This the time for OUR community…and ALL communities to pull together as ONE…ONE with all..gay/straight/all races and genders. We must show the ones who were killed by supporting with with love, compassion, caring and understanding.
Not this nasty bickering and slinging of words that is going on. Put it to rest and let’s mourn the passing of 49 people…and remember them with the love that they all deserve. Only then can we achieve peace, and change.
My heartfelt condolences to everyone. We have all been affected by this tragedy.
desertguy
@rickhfx:
Sir, I offer you a hug with some love, compassion, and understanding. Anger is not needed at this time. But I get it. But name calling is not necessary. If straight people called us gay bastards or lesbo bitches, I am sure you would be fit to be tied.
You are right. It is nobody’s business when or how someone comes out, but it is also not right someone who has been hiding to become a Self-appointed VIP. Unbiased, fair reporting, perhaps?
And no…I am not bigot. Far from it. Not even close, but then again, we all see things through different eyes.
Put the anger aside, and let’s remember the 49 dead with the dignity and respect that they deserve.
desertguy
@Jaroslaw:
Thank you for your support and understanding. I appreciate your insight and it makes sense.
Hopefully the anger and will subside and all can pull together to get through this travesty.
desertguy
@martinbakman: Just maybe this will be a cause for change. A path to an understanding future. Just maybe with how she is handling herself in this tragic situation will pave a road for compassion and understanding and acceptance.
In the meantime, let’s be more supportive of others. Just like we all needed once upon in our lives.
MyDadPulledOut
Andersen Cooper does not speak for me. He’s literally filthy and doesn’t even wash his jeans.
martinbakman
@desertguy: She’s a typical family values Republican dirt bag that’s been divorced twice, and then a live-in girlfriend of her millionaire boyfriend. Yes! They were together without the blessings of marriage. That relationship eventually went south. She has no kids. Yet Bondi is enough of an expert on marriage to tell the people of Florida why gays will bring harm when we’re allowed to get married. Right!
If she had here way, gays would be without marriage rights, and so would not have been able to visit partners in Orlando hospitals that were shot at Pulse, and would not have burial rights for their partners that died. Thanks to SCOTUS, that wasn’t the case.