Anderson Cooper Reacts to ‘Phantom of the Opera’ at Trump Rally

• Anderson Cooper’s face was priceless as he recognized “The Phantom of the Opera” at a Trump rally.
• Former President Donald Trump has a habit of playing music at his rallies without proper permission.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber, the musical’s creator, once asked Trump to stop playing his music.

Have you ever seen a dog tilt its head in curious recognition? 

That’s what CNN anchor Anderson Cooper looked like as he tried to place a song as he spoke with a colleague reporting live from a Trump rally in South Dakota. The song he recognized was the soundtrack from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera.” 

“Is that — I’m sorry, is that ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ soundtrack playing?” Anderson asked CNN reporter Kyung Lah, who confirmed for Cooper that he was correct.

Trump has an affinity for the “Phantom” soundtrack, MSNBC previously reported, citing a book by Trump’s former White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham.

A request for comment from Webber was not immediately answered on Sunday. 

The legendary composer has rejected Trump’s use of his music at rallies in the past, sending a cease-and-desist letter in 2020 over Trump’s use of the song “Memory” from Webber’s production of “Cats,” Deadline reported at the time. 

Webber also asked Trump not to attend the opening night of his show “School of Rock” in 2016, according to Playbill.  

“He wanted to come to the opening of ‘School of Rock,’ and actually I managed to persuade him not to come,” Webber said, according to Playbill. “When we opened over a year ago, I really, genuinely wondered whether he thought any of this was going to happen. I said, ‘Look, the kids, it’s their night, you’re so famous, don’t you think it would be good to just [not come]?'”

On CNN on Friday, Lah added that Trump had also played songs by Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer and songwriter who died in July. 

“I’m sure Sinéad O’Connor would have been thrilled,” Cooper commented dryly on CNN. 

O’Connor compared Trump to the devil in one of her last interviews, according to The Daily Sentinel. 

“I know this may sound extreme — I don’t really give a flying f*** what everyone else thinks — but I am convinced the man is actually a Satanist,” the Sentinel reported shortly after O’Connor’s death.