Anderson Cooper 360°: Election 2020 edition
~~Image of Anderson Cooper 360°, pretend it's here since I don't have enough posts to include links~~
Moving on from a Mark Preston piece about the field of candidates…
COOPER: Thanks so much, Mark. Plenty to talk about.
Joining us, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash; Republican CNN contributors Kayleigh McEnany, a supporter of President Trump and Ana Navarro, a Republican who supports Senator Cruz's campaign; Democrats Angela Rye, former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus and Christine Quinn, former New York City Council chairwoman, who supports Governor Kate Brown; and I'd like to welcome CNN's newest political contributor, former Maine Republican governor Paul LePage, also supporting President Trump.
LEPAGE: Well, thanks, Anderson. It's great to be here--
NAVARRO (interjecting): --Anderson, Anderson. I just want to make clear, I am a supporter of Ted Cruz but I am also an
unwilling supporter of Ted Cruz. I'm just here now because he's the only Republican alternative to that man in the White House that we've got.
COOPER: Of course, Ana. And we'll get to the Republican primary duel soon, but I wanna talk about the opposition first; the Democrats. We'll start with Dana Bash. Dana, as the race stands now, and going into the first debates, what should we expect to see coming from the Democratic primary?
BASH: Well, it's interesting, because this is shaping up to be the first Democratic primary contest between more than two major candidates since 2004; it's been 16 years. Warren has been the leader in most polls virtually since as soon as the 2016 election concluded, but now that others are getting their voices out there, it seems as if her nomination may not be so inevitable.
COOPER: Angela, you haven't made your decision yet and you've made it clear you're not deciding who to support for a while, at least publicly, but what's your read of the field, and where would you like to see it go from here?
RYE: What we need is a candidate who can bring the Obama coalition back together. Someone who who not only champion the rights of Black Americans, and LGBT people, and support women's rights and disabled rights, and all that, but who can also retake those parts of the Midwest White community we lost in 2016.
COOPER: Now, Kayleigh, a few of us saw you visibly rolling your eyes as Angela was talking, would you like to respond?
MCENANY: Yes, and I'm sorry Angela, it's just that I've been listening to Democrats talk about the "Obama coalition" for years and never actually bring out anything new. You talk about the Obama coalition, but guess who can't be a part of that coalition anymore: Barack Obama. President Trump is the only one who has actually united people in these past two years; Democrats seek only to divide us with identity politics and name-calling. Do you know how many times I've heard people call me a fascist the past few years? It's ridiculous and I--
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER (over crosstalk): OK now, let me turn to--
NAVARRO: OK, hang on, Kayleigh, because you're sitting right next to living proof that Trump cannot unite this country. I am a Republican, and I have been ever since I became a naturalized citizen. I decided to give him a chance after he shocked us all and won last election--
MCENANY: --Sure didn't shock me.
NAVRRO: --Oh, of course it didn't--I gave him a chance. And then I went for a second and third chance. And a fourth. After the 12th or so chance, I gave up. Donald Trump has proved time and time again that he is incapable of bringing this country together. And that's why I'm forced to hold my nose and support Senator Cruz.
MCENANY: Well, speaking of people who are dividing us… Ted Cruz--
COOPER: --Hang on, Kayleigh, remember we're talking about the Democrats right now, we'll clearly have plenty to talk about when it comes to the Republicans. Christine, you've said you support Governor Brown. What takes you in her direction as opposed to any of the other candidates?
QUINN: Kate Brown is exactly what this country needs right now. She is untouched by Washington, and has proven herself to be both a successful and extremely progressive governor in Oregon. That being said, I respect every one of these men and women we have running for our nomination this year. It's really inspiring to see so many strong women stand up on their own two feet--including two members of the LGBT community in Brown and Baldwin--and making their cases to the nation. In the end, whatever happens, I'll be happy voting for any one of the Democrats running for President over Donald Trump.
RYE: Exactly. When it all comes down to it, I see the Democratic Party as being more united than ever behind our field. We'll have a respectable campaign, at least until President Trump starts tweeting about the eventual nominee at 3 A.M., but we'll have a respectable campaign between our candidates where we debate the issues that matter to Americans--
all Americans.
COOPER: Governor LePage, again, welcome. Sorry we've been ignoring you all this time. Now, you were the first sitting governor to endorse candidate Trump back during the 2016 campaign, and you're back to help him win reelection. What do you see coming out of the Democratic primary.
LEPAGE: You see all this kum-ba-ya coming from the Dems? This is the last you'll see of it for another four years. Just like Hillary and Bernie, these candidates' supporters are gonna be at each others' throats for the next year. When one of them finally pulls himself out of the body pile, they're gonna be full of holes from all the shots they've been taking from their "fellow" Democrats. Part of me really believes Barack Obama was the last Democrat President, and that Donald J. Trump is the dawn of a new morning in America. RINO's like McConnell kept the Wall down, but we'll get it up without 'em, and keep all these thugs out of our country. He said it for the first time four years ago, and--
RYE: Now, stop it right there. Stop it, Governor. That is racist talk. I can't sit here and let you shout at Latinos and Latinas through the TV without calling you out for this. Honestly, where is your decency?
MCENANY: Now, wait a--
COOPER: All right, that's all the time we've got, we've gotta go to commercial break. Up next, Vice President Pence's foreign trip to...
