CNN receives backlash after asking Ellen DeGeneres-inspired question while ignoring important issues

Stephen Proctor
Updated

A week after Ellen DeGeneres got backlash for watching a Dallas Cowboys game with George W. Bush, Twitter is slamming CNN for ending the Democratic debate with a question based on that friendship.

Anderson Cooper first talked about the criticism Ellen received and her response to it, then went on to say, “So in that spirit, we’d like you to tell us about a friendship that you’ve had that would surprise us, what impact it’s had on you and your beliefs.”

The response on Twitter was wide-ranging, but the viewers overwhelmingly thought it was a terrible way to end the debate.

Many viewers, including former candidate Jay Inslee, admonished the fact that important issues like climate change were ignored by the debate panel, a sentiment that candidate Julian Castro lamented following the debate.

“We talked about Ellen at the end,” Castro told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “And I know what the point of the question was, but we keep leaving these huge issues that impact families off of the question agenda at these debates, and really it’s journalistic malpractice to do that.”

The majority of the candidates answered by naming a Republican colleague, something that did not sit well with some viewers.

Andrew Yang on the other hand, was praised for not naming a politician, instead choosing to name a Trump-supporting truck driver who, after spending a few hours with Yang, became a Yang supporter.

For more on the Democratic debate go to CNN.com.

Watch a Fox News host praise CNN and MSNBC hosts after being inspired by Ellen and George W. Bush:

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