Anderson Cooper takes on Debbie Wasserman Schultz

By KATIE GLUECK | 8/24/12 9:59 AM EDT Updated: 8/24/12 3:40 PM EDT

Debbie Wasserman Schultz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper engaged in a heated exchange Thursday night when Cooper charged that the Florida congresswoman “misquoted” the Los Angeles Times in a letter that the anchor also said misrepresented Mitt Romney’s stance on the Republican Party’s abortion platform plank.

The segment, which has gone viral in the conservative blogosphere, features Cooper, on his CNN show “Anderson Cooper 360,” pointing to a fundraising email Wasserman Schultz signed. He said that a quote she used from the Los Angeles Times in the appeal was taken “completely out of context.”

“Do you at least acknowledge that the quote that you gave from “The L.A. Times” is completely incorrect?” Cooper asked, after a back-and-forth over Romney’s record on allowing for abortions in certain instances, like rape.

“No, I don’t acknowledge that. I know that is what you’re saying,” Wasserman Schultz shot back.

When he started to read the quote, she interrupted, “Anderson, what I’m saying is, it doesn’t matter.”

“I think what you say does matter,” he said. “You’re quoting the LA Times and, again, you’ve misquoted them to back up a position.”  (Full Story at Politico)