Trump calls CNN anchor Anderson Cooper by a woman's first name

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called openly gay CNN anchor Anderson Cooper a woman's name, as the Republican presidential nominee seeks to appeal to conservative male voters in the final days of the race.

On Friday, the former president called Cooper “Allison Cooper” on Trump’s social media page Truth Social. Later that day, the former president doubled down on his taunts during a rally in Traverse City, Michigan, where he criticized a town hall that Cooper hosted alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.

“If you saw her being interviewed by Allison Cooper the other night, he’s a nice person. Do you know Allison Cooper? “CNN fake news,” Trump said, before adding in a mocking voice: “Oh, she said no, his name is Anderson.” Oh no.”

Trump repeated the name at another rally in Michigan on Saturday and again at a rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania that evening.

“They had a town hall,” Trump said in Michigan. “Even Allison Cooper was embarrassed by it. He was embarrassed.”

The move comes shortly after Trump appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which is extremely popular among young men. This episode reached a whopping 20 million views on YouTube just 20 hours after its release on Friday.

As of Monday morning, the episode had been viewed 33.5 million times. Rogan's most popular episode of all time featured Elon Musk smoking a joint in 2018. In the years since that viral moment, it has received 69 million views.

For her part, Democratic challenger Harris has tried to close the gap with male voters, running a plethora of ads aimed at men, especially in battleground states.

The new commercials began airing at sporting events on Sunday and will continue on Monday in Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. An ad will run during the broadcast of the Pittsburgh Steelers game on Monday Night Football.

A nationwide CNN poll of likely voters released Friday found that Trump has the support of 51% of men, compared to 45% support for Harris among male voters.