Politics
WATCH: Anderson Cooper Gets Called Out During Bizarre Town Hall Moment
A CNN town hall featuring U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was briefly derailed on Wednesday night after an audience member called out host Anderson Cooper for the social justice crime of misgendering her on live TV.
Grace Thomas, who claims “they/them” pronouns, was properly introduced by Cooper as “she” before offering Thomas the chance to ask Sanders a question about men turning away from the Democratic party. The usually unflappable CNN anchor profusely apologized for using his eyes to look at Thomas, see the guest’s feminine appearance, and assume she’s a woman.
“They/them pronouns, actually,” the local civil rights attorney replied to Cooper, who chirped back, “Oh!”
Female sports advocate Riley Gaines used the opportunity to mockingly call for Cooper to be canceled over his progressive transgression.
WATCH:
“Calling for Anderson Cooper’s immediate resignation for believing what his eyes were telling him he saw. Bigot,” the former collegiate swimming star wrote on X while sharing the clip.
Other users made the most of the moment, piling on the CNN star for having the temerity to assume his guest was a woman.
Val, a Democrat-turned-Republican, called out far-left gender activists like Thomas for driving her out of her former party.
“Can you imagine introducing yourself by listing your sexual preferences as part of your identity? This ‘they/them’ trend has gone so far off the rails, some individuals seem more focused on insane labels than reality,” she wrote in response to Riley’s post.
“When someone can’t even define who they are, how can they claim to represent anything or anyone with clarity? What’s worse is the pride with which they flaunt this confusion—completely out of touch, yet convinced they’re leading progress. Keep going, Democrats. The more you showcase this madness, the clearer it becomes why so many are walking away from your party.”
Once a fringe part of virtue-signaling culture, professing one’s pronouns has been part of the mainstream for nearly a decade. Corporate human resource officers encourage meetings or email signatures to include the declaration of pronouns, as in the case of major U.S. companies like Goldman Sachs, IBM, BASF, Cigna, and Pfizer.
The election of President Donald Trump has emboldened conservatives like Gaines to push back. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt this week defended the stonewalling of reporters who include pronouns in their email signatures.
“As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios,” she told the New York Times in explaining why some reporters aren’t getting their requests for comment returned.
Kate Miller, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, responded to the Times in much the same way earlier this week.
“As a matter of policy, I don’t respond to people who use pronouns in their signatures as it shows they ignore scientific realities and therefore ignore facts,” she replied, adding, “This applies to all reporters who have pronouns in their signature.”
