Anderson Cooper spoke out on CNN to note that President Donald Trump appears to have double standards when it comes to guns.
This came after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a Veteran nurse in Minneapolis, where Trump had a different view on guns. While Trump vows to defend the Second Amendment, he spoke a different story after Pretti’s shooting.
Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by a US Border Patrol officer while attending an anti-ICE protect in Minneapolis on January 24. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the man was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. However, officials didn’t specify whether Pretti brandished the gun at the officers.
Meanwhile, footage filmed by bystanders at the scene reveals an agent pushing a woman to the ground. When Pretti attempted to help the woman, he was held by agents, who took his gun from its holster, a firearm that he has a legal permit for. What the videos captured was that Pretti was filming the scene on his phone. After the officers disarmed him, he was shot dead.
While anyone who watched the videos of the incident can see exactly what happened, since the shooting, Trump administration officials, including Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, 56, and Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, 54, claim that Pretti had attempted to harm the federal agents.
Anderson Cooper: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell wrote that in his book 1984 after getting sick of what he called “the screaming and lies told by governments and media pushing official… pic.twitter.com/DeH3spYe7b
— FactPost (@factpostnews) January 27, 2026
On Monday’s edition of AC360, CNN journalist Anderson Cooper noted that the Trump administration’s claim were contradicted by multiple videos of Pretti’s shooting. Cooper also played a video of FBI Director Kash Patel, saying, “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you wanted.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s law allows for open carry for handguns, provided a permit is obtained and there is no law against carrying a firearm while protesting. To show the double standards, the CNN journalist aired a clip from 2021 of Patel soliciting donations for Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people at a protest in 2020. Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder after he said that he acted in self-defense. Cooper noted that Rittenhouse had met with Trump, who deemed Rittenhouse “a nice young man.”
On the show, Cooper also read a Truth Social post by Donald Trump, showing a photo of Pretti’s weapon. The president, 79, wrote, “This is the gunman’s gun (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about?”
Cooper then said, “Now, again, this is from a president who, until this weekend, hardly stopped talking about his love for the Second Amendment” and then played several clips of Trump speaking about the Second Amendment.
He then played a number of clips of President Trump talking about the Second Amendment. “I’m gonna save your Second Amendment,” he said. “The Second Amendment is under siege. Believe me,” he added.
The president added at the time, “We’ll ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror. I will be always defending the Second Amendment.” Moreover, on another occasion, Trump told his supporters, “We are going to be so strong with our Second Amendment. We’re not letting our Second Amendment go.”
“If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns, and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CNN reporter also revealed a video clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, saying, “The president has also made it clear he’s always going to protect the constitutional right, Second Amendment, constitutional right of Americans to own guns.”
Moreover, Anderson Cooper said the Trump administration’s stance on gun ownership seems to vary, depending on who is in involved in the incidents. Speaking of Trump, he said, “Now, he supports the Second Amendment – just not all the time, depending on who’s carrying the gun and who gets killed. Alex Pretti was apparently not his kind of gun owner.”
Speaking of Pretti, Cooper added, “He was, however, someone who served his country by caring for its wounded veterans by caring for them in their final hours and honoring their passing.”
In the many videos of the shooting, taken by bystanders at the scene, the ICU nurse is seen to have a phone in his hand, but none of the clips show a visible weapon. According to family members, Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota, but that they had never known him to carry it.
What began with a small group singing in freezing temperatures has grown into a movement in Minneapolis, where hundreds are gathering to use protest songs as a way to grieve, express fear, and find courage. CNN’s Anderson Cooper reports. pic.twitter.com/lB9HY7I0aX
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) January 27, 2026
After videos of Trump administration officials stating their son was a “domestic terrorist” that attacked the officers who shot him, his family was quick to issue a written statement, writing that they are both heartbroken and angry. “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the family’s statement said.
Moreover, his family noted that Pretti was not holding a gun when he was tackled by federal agents. He was holding his phone in one hand, while using the other hand to help a woman who was being pepper-sprayed by officers. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they added.
