Anderson Cooper Presses Rep. Steve Cohen Over Comparing Republicans To Nazis (VIDEO)

Anderson Cooper pressed a Democratic congressman to explain why he had compared Republicans to Nazis in a debate about health care reform

During the debate on Tuesday, Cohen compared Republicans who called health care reform a "government takeover" of health care to Joseph Goebbels, the leading propagandist for the Nazis.

"They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie, just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and, eventually, people believe it, like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing."

On his Wednesday show, Cooper seemed almost flabbergasted that Cohen had made the comparison, and equally flabbergasted that Cohen didn't simply admit he had made it. "You're essentially comparing them to Nazis," he told Cohen.

"No, I don't think I was," Cohen said. "And I certainly didn't intend to."

"If you weren't trying to compare them to Nazis, you wouldn't have mentioned Nazis," Cooper said. Cohen said that he was making a narrow comparison to Joseph Goebbels--who, Cooper pointed out, was a leading Nazi.

Round and round the conversation went, with Cooper continuing to ask Cohen why he had made the comparison and Cohen insisting that he hadn't.

"I just don't understand why you have to bring the Nazis into a discussion about health care and your opponents," Cooper summed up.

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