CNN's John Berman Calls Out Sen. Tom Cotton's Definition Of A Coup

Sen. Tom Cotton is proof an Ivy League degree doesnt guarantee an understanding of basic word definitions.

In fact, the Arkansas Republican showed during a Tuesday interview on CNN that he has no idea what the word coup means.

Heres the back story: Ever since Joe Biden stepped down as a presidential candidate on Sunday, the Republicans who previously demanded he step down got mad that he stepped down, and claimed it was a coup.

Its not. A coup is typically defined as the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group, and not delegates of a political party choose to support a new candidate weeks before the party makes their official nomination.

But Cotton, who famously suggested deploying troops to attack peaceful protesters in 2020, apparently didnt read that entry in Merriam-Webster based on his CNN appearance with John Berman .

The anchor asked the senator why Republicans keep calling the Democratic Party s decision to circle their wagons around Kamala Harris after Bidens departure from the campaign a coup, but dont use that term for  something like, say, attacking the Capitol because youre mad your candidate didnt win the election.

Berman was blunt: So why call this a coup and not Jan. 6?

Cotton then offered the type of red meat that makes MAGA followers all warm and fuzzy, making sure to check off all the liberal boogey-people like Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, George Clooney, Hollywood moguls, [and] Wall Street bankers, who he insisted were working behind closed doors to get the president to throw in the towel.

And now you have the Democratic Party uniting around Kamala Harris, who not only has never won a Democratic primary, shes never won a single vote for president, yet theyve installed her as their nominee, he said. Thats what they want to go forward with in this election, even as we still have questions.

Berman once again pressed Cotton on why hes calling Democrats decision to support Harris weeks before a candidate is officially declared, but not an event where a bunch of people attacked the Capitol by force, a coup.

You use the language coup, and again, youve never said that for Jan. 6, Berman said, while pointing out that when Democrats replaced Biden with Harris no cops were beaten up [and] no one defecated in the Capitol.

He asked the senator and Harvard Law School graduate to confirm there was no criminal trespass in terms of changing the Democratic candidates, were there?

Cotton, stuck between a crock and a hard place, had to concede Bermans point.

But not before trying to claim that Harris actions while serving as a prosecutor in California somehow constitute a coup during her time as Bidens vice president.

Well, no, but what you get with Kamala Harris is a failed prosecutor who wouldnt seek the death penalty for cop killers, even though her same fellow San Francisco Democrat Dianne Feinstein, wanted to, he said.

Kamala Harris also has to answer questions about whats happened over the last three and a half years. She was not just a part of the conspiracy of silence about Joe Bidens decline. She was the leader of it.

You can see the entire interview below, courtesy of journalist Aaron Rupar.

Many people on X, formerly Twitter, didnt cotton to Cottons definition of a coup, or pretty much anything else he said.