Los Angeles, Jul 20 (IANS): TV personality Anderson Cooper says his remark that US President Donald Trump's Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin was "disgraceful", had just "popped out".
Cooper spoke about it when he stopped by "The Late Show" with Andy Cohen on Wednesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader truly that I've ever seen," Cooper had said following the press conference while covering the event for CNN.
When host Stephen Colbert brought up the comment, Cooper reiterated the sentiment before the audience cheered. "It just popped out," he said.
"I'm not saying it proudly or gleefully. It just popped out. It was the first thing I said. As soon as the press conference was done, it just sort of popped out of my mouth."
"But you heard he changed one of the words, right?" asked Colbert, in reference to Trump claiming he meant to ask why "wouldn't" Russia be involved with the 2016 election as opposed to why "would" it be involved.
"Yes, I did. Well, that all makes sense now. Yeah, it's very clear," said Cooper.
Cooper then jokingly agreed with Colbert that Trump's mix-up makes his performance "graceful" not "disgraceful".
Cooper added that "he has the best words, as he told us during the campaign", reports The Hollywood Reporter.