If ever there was proof of the pressure cooker atmosphere in Washington DC it's this: the brain snap of CNN's anchor, Anderson Cooper.
Cooper has been forced to apologised for a "crude" remark he made during a live interview with the Trump backer, Jeffrey Lord.
More World News Videos
If Trump 'took a dump on his desk'
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has apologised after remarking that Jeffrey Lord, a Trump supporter, would defend Trump after he 'Took a dump on his desk'.
"If [Mr Trump] took a dump on his desk, you would defend it," Cooper told Lord after the conservative political commentator defended Trump's description of the sacked FBI director James Comey as a "nut job" at a meeting with Russian officials.
President Trump fired Mr Comey while leading an investigation into alleged links between the presidential office and Russia.
![Donald Trump is interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170522235225im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/2/h/t/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gw9cez.png/1495268612782.jpg)
Lord told Cooper it was the president's prerogative to describe people as he saw fit.
"I don't care what he says to the Russians. I mean, he's the president of the United States," Lord said. "If he wants to say that, if Barack Obama wants to say whatever, if George Bush says I looked in his eyes ..."
Frustrated, Cooper interjected with the crude turd analogy, suggesting Lord would defend the president no matter what. "I mean, I don't know what he would do that you would not defend. I mean, you're a loyal guy, I think that speaks well of you."
Cooper later apologised for his comment. "I regret the crude sentence I spoke earlier tonight and followed it up by apologising on air. It was unprofessional. I am genuinely sorry," he wrote on Twitter.
![CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper](http://web.archive.org./web/20170522235225im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/y/v/m/4/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gw9cez.png/1495268612782.jpg)
By then the journalist's comment had quickly spread on social media where it was described as "the greatest moment in network news history".
As president-elect Trump branded CNN as "fake news" for its reporting of unsubstantiated allegations about his purported ties to Russia.
A week ago Cooper was caught on air rolling his eyes at senior Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, when she originally defended the president's firing of Mr Comey.
"All of a sudden, the White House is concerned about James Comey's handling of Hillary Clinton's emails?," Cooper said. "Why now are you concerned about the Hillary Clinton email investigation when as a candidate, Trump was praising it from the campaign trail?"
Ms Conway, who coined the now-infamous phrase "alternative facts", interjected: "I think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here".
Ms Conway said then the gesture was a sign of sexism.
"I face sexism a lot of times when I show up for interviews like that," she said. "Could you imagine rolling your eyes, having a male anchor on a network roll eyes at Hillary Clinton ... a female representative/spokesperson for President Obama or President Bill Clinton?"