Anderson Cooper refused to endorse a candidate for president on the Howard Stern Show yesterday, taking the opportunity instead to explain why he doesn't vote at all, and why he thinks other journalists should take his lead and do the same.

"I don’t think I’m going to vote. I don’t think reporters should vote," the 48-year-old CNN anchor told a stunned Stern. "A lot of reporters don't vote. It’s a thing."

Cooper explained he chooses not to vote so he can remain impartial and open to all candidates.

"I've had the debate. There have been years where I have voted because sometimes I thought maybe I should. I’ve gone back and forth on it. I don’t want to be influenced one way or the other," he said.

"I believe people should vote, but my role is to ask questions."

When Cooper came out publicly in 2012, he used a similar defense in explaining why he'd kept his rumored sexuality a 'secret' for so long. At the time, he said having an elusive sexuality allowed him to remain politically neutral on the subject, and afforded him safety when traveling to countries where homosexuality is illegal.

"For my safety and the safety of those I work with, I try to blend in as much as possible, and prefer to stick to my job of telling other people’s stories, and not my own," Cooper told The Daily Beast in 2012.

He decided the battle for LGBT equality, however, could benefit from his advocacy.

"There continue to be far too many incidences of bullying of young people, as well as discrimination and violence against people of all ages, based on their sexual orientation, and I believe there is value in making clear where I stand," he said.

Cooper was on hand to discuss The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss, the book he recently published with his 92-year-old mother, heiress Gloria Vanderbilt.

Said Cooper:

"In the book, she describes someone she was dating at 85 as 'the Nijinsky of cunnilingus. I had to look up Nijinsky ... a ballet dancer, very limber, I assume. My mom just thought it was funny, I was like, 'oh jeez, Mom, I don't need to hear this.'"

Listen to part of Cooper's interview below:

h/t Pink News