‘They-Them Actually’: CNN’s Anderson Cooper Gets Corrected Live on Air Over Pronouns at Bernie Sanders Town Hall

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper got corrected live on the air over the pronouns he used when introducing attorney Grace Thomas during a town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Sanders took questions Wednesday night during an event that included questions from members of the audience. When Cooper introduced Thomas — an attorney and scholar of Civil and LGBTQ+ rights — he used feminine pronouns.

Thomas gently corrected Cooper, then asked Sanders about appealing to White men and others without “abandoning marginalized voters of color and gender”:

COOPER: And welcome back to our live CNN town hall.

We’re back with Senator Bernie Sanders.

I want to introduce Grace Thomas. She’s a local civil rights attorney. She’s a Democrat.

Grace?

GRACE THOMAS: They/them pronouns, actually. Thank you.

COOPER: Oh.

THOMAS: Good evening, Senator Sanders.

Polling and turnout data indicate that men of all racial demographics are turning away from the Democratic Party. But of course, white men, in particular, do not feel that the DNC’s messaging targets them in the issues that they care about.

Should progressive campaigns craft policies and messaging to better- encapsulate these voters? And if the answer is yes, how do they do so without abandoning marginalized voters of color and gender?

SEN. SANDERS: OK. Thank you for the question, Grace.

Look, this is, it is no great secret that in America, people have strongly different points of view, right? On abortion, for example, I believe very much that women have a right to control their own bodies. People disagree with me. I believe that we’ve got to combat homophobia. I believe in gay marriage. My state helped led way on that. Not everybody agrees with me. I believe that we got to end all forms of bigotry, et cetera, et cetera. Not everybody agrees with me.

But you know what, Grace? On many economic issues, there is widespread agreement. And the failure of the Democratic Party, in my view, has been, they have not been aggressive in standing up to powerful corporate interests, in laying out an agenda, and implementing an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working-class.

All right, I’m going to ask you guys a question. He’s asking me questions all night. I’m going to ask you a question.

Watch above via CNN.