[ad_1]
Donald Trump has been criticized as an “obese turtle flailing in the hot sun” by a prominent American news anchor after the US president delivered an incendiary speech from the White House.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper did not hold back after Trump addressed the country on Thursday (Friday New Zealand time) alleging widespread corruption and voter fraud, without any evidence, committed across the United States to prevent him from being re-elected.
Evan Vucci / AP
President Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud.
“That’s the president of the United States,” Cooper said. “That is the most powerful person in the world, and we see him as an obese turtle on his back, flailing in the blazing sun, realizing that his time is up.”
Trump’s hopes of retaining the presidency are fading as thousands of votes continue to be counted in key states on the battlefield, where mail-in votes are heavily skewed to rival Joe Biden.
READ MORE:
* Elections in the US: Concerns about the safety of vote counters and debate on election observers
* Election in the United States: Donald Trump spreads unfounded accusations of electoral fraud
* US Elections Live: Trump Says He’s Being Cheated In US Elections, No Evidence
However, in his first speech since election night, Trump falsely claimed that Democrats were counting “illegal votes” and defamed poll workers across the country, while saying he would win in court.
Also CNN host Jake Tapper joined Anderson in expressing dismay at Trump’s comments after the press conference.
Paul Morigi / Getty Images
CNN host Anderson Cooper took aim at the President of the United States after his speech.
“What a sad night for the United States of America to hear its president say that,” Tapper said.
“Falsely accusing people of trying to steal elections, trying to attack democracy that way with its feast of falsehoods. Lie after lie after lie.”
The news network’s chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, believed that Trump had been planning the speech for months by telling his voters not to vote early.
But she was still in awe of what she heard.
“It is a trap. He prepared the country, he prepared his supporters for a moment like this, which is completely untrue and sad,” Bash said.
“I am not an emotional person and I have trouble staying calm after hearing the President of the United States say what he just said.”
CNN was not alone in its criticism of Trump.
MSNBC host Brian Williams interrupted the speech to reiterate to viewers that Trump’s claims were unfounded.
“Here we are again in the unusual position of not just interrupting the president of the United States, but correcting the president of the United States,” Williams said. “There are no illegal votes that we know of. There has been no Trump victory that we know of. “
He later explained that MSNBC’s decision to cut the president’s speech “was not a gimmick” but that his comments “were not rooted in reality.”
“And at this point where our country is, it is dangerous.”
USA Today it also withdrew its live feed of the speech, with editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll saying the news outlet’s job was “to spread the truth, not baseless conspiracies.”
