Anderson Cooper is speaking out against what he called the "idiotic" rumors being spread about a viral photo of himself reporting during a hurricane.
The photo, which shows Cooper in waist deep water while his crew stand in shallower water that barely reaches their knees, was taken in 2008 during CNN's coverage of Hurricane Ike.
Some have claimed the photo showed Cooper allegedly kneeling in the water to exaggerate how bad conditions were in the Carolinas during Florence. President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. even tweeted the photo, accusing the CNN anchor of lying to make his father look bad.
But the photo was actually taken in 2008 while Cooper was covering Hurricane Ike in Texas during a 2-hour special on September 13, 2008. The hurricane had since been downgraded to a tropical depression.
Cooper explained in a 9 minute segment that he was standing in an area where people had been trapped on the roofs of their homes by water. In response to those who said he was kneeling in the water to make conditions look worse than they are, Cooper played clips from the broadcast showing that he actually explained how waters had already started receding.
He called the idea that he was kneeling in the water "frankly, idiotic."
Cooper also pointed out a road with only a few inches of water that was being used to evacuate people.
He explained that he was staying off of the road so that he wouldn't get in the way of evacuations and that the camera crews had to stand on the road so that the equipment wouldn't get wet.
Cooper finally added that the cameraman shown in the photo, Doug Thomas, had actually died a year ago. "We miss him every day," said Cooper.
"I don't expect the president's son to ever admit he was wrong, or one of the president's former advisers, or frankly anyone else who's re-tweeted these pictures," Cooper said. "But at I at least thought that they and you should know the truth."
Cooper said he has been the subject of many "conspiracy theories" in the past, and said he doesn't usually address them, but decided to do so in this case "in the interest of honesty and transparency."
