Anderson Cooper Slams Donald Trump for Claiming D.C. Is Full of 'Filth and Decay': 'That Is the City He Left Behind'

Donald Trump was arraigned at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, August 3.

After pleading not guilty to all charges, he gave a short speech while on the tarmac at Reagan International Airport, slamming the city for allegedly being dirty and rundown — but Anderson Cooper wasn't a fan of what the embattled ex-prez had to say.

"Well, thank you very much. This is a sad day for America and it was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti," Trump said in a clip played on CNN. "This is not the place that I left. It’s a very sad thing to see it."

"When you look at what’s happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent," he continued. "This was never supposed to happen in America."

"This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot," he added. "So if you can’t beat 'em, you persecute 'em or you prosecute 'em. We can't let this happen in America. Thank you very much."

However, Cooper had a bone to pick with Trump's comments about the state of the nation's capital.

"We should point out that when the former president left office and left Washington, D.C., the city was on lockdown because of the attack on January 6th," Cooper said. "That is the city he left behind."

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As OK! previously reported, Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights, which is related to a citizen's right to vote and for the votes to be counted.

Despite the severity of the accusations, Trump has brushed off his most recent indictment as a plot coordinated by the Biden family to interfere with his campaign in the 2024 election.

Since it was announced he was under investigation for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Trump has boldly claimed that he only needs "one more indictment" to guarantee that he'll be elected President of the United States.

He also implied that he'd be willing to testify on his own behalf, calling it the "trial of the century".