CNN and Chris Cuomo under fire for anchor’s silence, role in AG probe
As nearly unanimous calls for Gov. Cuomo’s resignation reach a fever pitch, some are calling for his brother to be taken off the anchor desk at CNN.
Media pundits and journalists have said the cable network should fire Chris Cuomo, after it was revealed he advised his embattled brother on how to beat sexual harassment allegations that have the Democrat fighting for his political life.
Chris was given confidential and privileged information by the Executive Chamber, and appeared to draft or edit a proposed statement on the governor’s behalf, according to Attorney General Letitia James’ damning Tuesday report.
The anchor is barred from reporting on his brother, and notably did not mention the country’s biggest political story during Tuesday’s edition of “Cuomo Prime Time.” The 50-year-old was spotted catching up on The New York Post’s coverage of the scandal as he boarded a helicopter from the Hamptons to Manhattan before the newscast.
Cuomo, who reportedly makes $6 million a year, was one of several non-New York State employees who advised the governor through the political crisis this winter, the report said.
“None of them was officially retained in any capacity by the Executive Chamber or any of the individuals involved,” the report states.
“Nonetheless, they were regularly provided with confidential and often privileged information about state operations and helped make decisions that impacted State business and employees—all without any formal role, duty, or obligation to the State,” it adds.
The apparent conflict of interest has observers calling on CNN to take him off the air, with some pointing out it was just last year when the brothers were hamming it up on the network during the height of New York City’s COVID-19 crisis.
“If CNN, from the start, had just said: Chris Cuomo cannot objectively report on his brother and therefore will abstain and others will do it, that would have been fine,” reporter Glenn Greenwald tweeted Wednesday.
“Instead, they cheered as he heaped praise on his brother and touted him as a future President.”
“Don’t ever forget while Andrew Cuomo was killing elderly people and horrifically sexually abusing women – this is how he was interviewed on @CNN – a comedy show with giant q tip props,” former “The View” host Meghan McCain wrote Tuesday.
“Governor Cuomo should resign and his brother, the purported journalist who advised him on strategy regarding these allegations, should step down or be fired from his position at CNN,” writer Saaed Jones tweeted Tuesday.
CNN officials offered the television host the opportunity to take a leave of absence from the network and advise his brother, according to The New York Times.
When the anchor’s involvement in the governor’s war room was initially reported, CNN anchor Jake Tapper was reportedly among his colleague’s critics, telling the newspaper the situation “put us in a bad spot.”
“I cannot imagine a world in which anybody in journalism thinks that that was appropriate,” Tapper reportedly said in May.
CNN has not issued a statement about its prime time anchor’s role in the sexual harassment probe, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
New York Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, who has previously called on the network to fire Chris Cuomo, Wednesday asked the anchor to “use his journalistic pulpit” to denounce his older brother.
Investigators found the 11 women accusing the three-term government of sexual harassment to be credible. Gov. Cuomo continues to deny the allegations.
