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

Sen. Tom Cotton is proof an Ivy League degree doesn’t 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.

Here’s 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.”

It’s not. A coup istypically 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 didn’t 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 Biden’s departure from the campaign a “coup,” but don’t use that term for something like, say, attacking the Capitol because you’re mad your candidate didn’t 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, she’s never won a single vote for