CNN's Anderson Cooper shuts down panelist in tense exchange about Gaza deaths: 'Don't really need a lecture'

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper shut down a CNN commentator’s argument about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza during a network panel on Michigan’s Democratic Party primary on Tuesday night. 

After commentator and former Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign co-chair Nina Turner ripped President Biden for not doing enough to secure an end to Israel’s war in Gaza – while mentioning all the "bodies" that have been "laying in the wake" – Cooper cut her off, saying the panel didn’t need a "lecture."

He insisted the panel get back to discussing the primary politics that were the focus of the evening. Michigan’s primary vote had proven to be a noteworthy primary campaign moment for Biden, as a major portion of Democratic voters in the state – many Arab Americans – refused to fill in the ballot for the president because of his continuing support of Israel. 

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CNN's Anderson Cooper interrupts leftist commentator Nina Turner as she talks about the dead in Gaza. 

Turner began her monologue lamenting Gaza’s destruction at the hands of Israel with her shot at Biden, slamming him after he floated the idea of a ceasefire while eating an ice cream cone on Monday.

"And so while this president was in the ice cream shop saying ‘I think there’s gonna be a ceasefire,’ 30,000 people have been slaughtered. People are living in famine. They can’t get medical care," she said, adding that a cease-fire "can’t come soon enough" for many Arab American voters in Michigan.

The commentator continued, noting how even the CNN panelists present seem insulated from the suffering of the Palestinian people. 

"So we get to be comfortable and talk about this like these people are widgets, when they are in fact suffering, and I am young enough to remember, colleagues, when Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and also Congresswoman Cori Bush called for a ceasefire very early on, they were called abhorrent."

"Now fast-forward to all of these bodies laying in the wake, and people are living through his every single day," the former Sanders campaign official added.

Cooper cut in, mentioning how Israel has suffered. 

"By the way, there’s also been slaughter in Israel, as well. So, there’s a lot of pain on both sides," he said.

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President Joe Biden eats ice cream at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in New York, as Seth Meyers watches.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Stammering, Turner, tried to cut back in and clarify her words, but Cooper declared, "We don’t really need a lecture on the problem."

He insisted on focusing on the politics at hand, adding, "But I’m talking about the politics of this tonight — what to you would be a victory if somebody was calling for this ‘uncommitted’ vote? What to you would be a victory tonight to get that message across?"

On defense, Turner replied, "I’m not denying that pain. All I’m saying, that at a certain point after Oct. 7, it becomes clear – I mean you have a right-wing prime minister." 

Not wanting to "debate the issue," Cooper stopped her again.

Insisting on explaining herself, she asked, "But you understand what I’m saying — I’m not denying anybody’s pain. What I’m saying is this president in our country has the power to say to Netanyahu, we need a permanent ceasefire."

Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.