[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
CNN did a 180 in its coverage of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter attacking Donald Trump as an "asshole" on 8 December 2015 over the presidential candidate's controversial proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the U.S. On the 8 December 2015 edition of OutFront, Erin Burnett spotlighted how the Democratic mayor "spoke out" against Trump with his crass term, after a pig's head was thrown at the door of a mosque in Philadelphia. Burnett's program ran the soundbite of Nutter uncensored, and an on-screen graphic trumpeted, "Philadelphia Mayor: Trump's An 'Asshole'".
Just over 24 hours later, Anderson Cooper confronted the outgoing mayor on his CNN program on Wednesday over the crude retort: "Calling Donald Trump an 'a-hole,' 'madman,' a 'danger to society' — do you stand by what you said?" The anchor also ran the clip from Nutter's press conference without deleting the expletive. However, the accompanying chyron censored the outburst: "Philadelphia Mayor: Trump's An 'A**hole'". Cooper also went after his guest for likening Trump to Hitler.