--- title: Best Reactions to CNN's Ellen Question at Democratic Debate description: Some criticized the moderators for focusing on DeGeneres' controversial friendship over issues like climate change. Read the best tweets canonical: https://time.com/5702089/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-16T16:12:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:34:28.760Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Internet Reacts to CNN's Question about Ellen DeGeneres at Last Night's Democratic Presidential Primary Debate og:description: Some have criticized the moderators for focusing on DenGeneres' controversial friendship rather than crucial issues like climate change. og:url: https://time.com/5702089/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81b60345419a2400/698a046116d8841ee3c3720c/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: internet cnn ellen degeneres george bush democratic primary debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Reacts to CNN's Question about Ellen DeGeneres at Last Night's Democratic Presidential Primary Debate twitter:description: Some have criticized the moderators for focusing on DenGeneres' controversial friendship rather than crucial issues like climate change. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81b60345419a2400/698a046116d8841ee3c3720c/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bemused, Frustrated Reactions Abound After CNN's Ellen DeGeneres Question at Last Night's Democratic Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Oct 16, 2019 4:12 PM UTC  Moderator and The New York Times national editor Marc Lacey, moderator and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and moderator and CNN anchor Erin Burnett look on during the fourth Democratic primary at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio on October 15, 2019. Moderator and The New York Times national editor Marc Lacey, moderator and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and moderator and CNN anchor Erin Burnett look on during the fourth Democratic primary at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio on October 15, 2019. SAUL LOEB—AFP via Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Oct 16, 2019 4:12 PM UTC As part of the last question in [Tuesday night’s Democratic primary debate](https://time.com/5701777/democratic-debate-recap-takeaways/), CNN’s Anderson Cooper brought up [the recent controversy](https://time.com/5694959/ellen-degeneres-george-bush-nfl-game/) over comedian Ellen DeGeneres’ friendship with former President George W. Bush. “Last week, Ellen DeGeneres was criticized after she and former President George W. Bush were seen laughing together at a football game. Ellen defended their friendship,” Cooper noted, adding, “So in that spirit, we’d like you tell us about a friendship that you’ve had that would surprise us, and what impacts it’s had on you and your beliefs.” DeGeneres, who is openly gay, has faced criticism for laughing with the former President whose record includes the Iraq War and supporting a constitutional amendment to explicitly ban gay marriage. She responded last week on her show that she’s “friends with George Bush,” adding, “In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different and I think that we’ve forgotten that that’s okay.” The 2020 Democratic candidates all engaged with the question, many listing prominent Republican politicians as his or her unlikely friend; Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, California Sen. Kamala Harris said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbardsaid former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy. But some have criticized the moderators for choosing to discuss DeGeneres’ controversial friendship, which they argued is a frivolous topic, rather than focusing on crucial issues like climate change or voter suppression that had so far gone undiscussed. > [](https://twitter.com/jsmooth995/status/1184299804421177344) > [](https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedNews/status/1184299785249054721) > [](https://twitter.com/julissaarce/status/1184299673990774784) > [](https://twitter.com/Leahgreenb/status/1184299731826155520) > [](https://twitter.com/jenstatsky/status/1184300202980593664) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/1184299168900308993) > [](https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1184300292638162944) > [](https://twitter.com/ZerlinaMaxwell/status/1184302176736366592) Some Presidential candidates and other prominent Democratic politicians also took to Twitter to express their frustration. > [](https://twitter.com/JulianCastro/status/1184301761491881984) > [](https://twitter.com/JayInslee/status/1184302862907478017) > [](https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/1184301173328826368) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5702089/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5702089/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate/"},"headline":"Bemused, Frustrated Reactions Abound After CNN's Ellen DeGeneres Question at Last Night's Democratic Debate","datePublished":"2019-10-16T16:12:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:34:28.760Z","description":"Some have criticized the moderators for focusing on DenGeneres' controversial friendship rather than crucial issues like climate change","url":"https://time.com/5702089/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate/","keywords":["democrats","2020","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81b60345419a2400/698a046116d8841ee3c3720c/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81b60345419a2400/698a046116d8841ee3c3720c/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"internet cnn ellen degeneres george bush democratic primary debate","caption":"internet cnn ellen degeneres george bush democratic primary debate","creditText":"SAUL LOEB—AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5702089/internet-cnn-ellen-degeneres-george-bush-democratic-primary-debate/","name":"Bemused, Frustrated Reactions Abound After CNN's Ellen DeGeneres Question at Last Night's Democratic Debate"}}]}] ```