CNN’s Anderson Cooper spoke with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi this afternoon and really grilled her for her words about the gay victims of the Orlando shooting in the context of her overall views on LGBT rights.

Cooper brought up how in court, Bondi was making the argument that recognizing gay marriages from other states would “impose significant public harm.” Her office made a strong argument that “Florida’s marriage laws, then, have a close, direct, and rational relationship to society’s legitimate interest in increasing the likelihood that children will be born to and raised by the mothers and fathers who produced them in stable and enduring family units.”

Bondi insisted her stance there was just about sticking up for the state constitution, but Cooper asked her if she could really frame herself as a “champion” of LGBT Americans when she was making a “public harm” argument against gay marriage.

He also remarked upon the “sick irony” that the very hotlines that Florida has set up for spouses of the victims to get information wouldn’t be available to most of them if her efforts to fight gay marriage had been successful.

Bondi kept the focus on the victims and said LGBT Americans are “citizens just like anyone else.”

Cooper pointed out that he has never seen her talk about LGBT people “in a positive way until now.”

Watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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