Anderson Cooper stunned by criticism of his Egypt reporting (VIDEO)

Anderson Cooper described as "weird" a controversy surrounding his reporting about Egypt, specifically criticism within the media of his decision to call former President Hosni Mubarak and his government "liars."

The L.A. Times' James Rainey wrote a blog post saying that, while he found no fault with any of the claims Cooper had made about Mubarak, his tone began sounding "a little one-note" and veered too close to outright opinion journalism. Fox News' Liz Trotta said that she found Cooper's coverage "shocking" and that it "wasn't his purview" to call Mubarak a liar.

Cooper appeared on "The Daily Show" Tuesday and told Jon Stewart he was "stunned" by the reaction, adding that it was "really weird. I'm not big on calling people names, or I try not to take political stands, but based on facts the guy's lying."

Cooper said he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say when someone such as Mubarak made claims that were "demonstrably untrue."

"I've been there. I've been on the ground. I've seen with my own eyes how the guy is lying. I mean, I've seen what the truth is and I've seen what he said about. Again I find it weird that that seems to cause a drama in the world of journalism."

Cooper initially made headlines for his Egypt coverage when he was set upon by angry pro-Hosni Mubarak supports while reporting on Egypt's domestic crisis. Anderson's crew captured the attack, in which the reporter said he was punched in the head 10 times, on camera. 

Later, footage showed CBS news anchor Katie Couric and ABC news anchor Christiane Amanpour being roughly jostled by the crowd in Cairo.

And American TV reporter Lara Logan "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault" while covering the resignation of Mubarak.

Stewart closed out the Daily Show interview by admitting that he worried about Cooper when he goes to unsafe places.

"When I see you in a dangerous place, I just really want to give you a big hug," he said, prompting an "awww" from Cooper.