For once, CNN’s Chris Cuomo, had nothing to say about the top story of the day: the sexual harassment probe which threatens to end his brother’s tenure as governor of New York and which exposes Chris’ role in trying to assure his brother clings to power.
“We’re focused on COVID here,” said Cuomo as he opened CNN’s top-rated show on Tuesday night, “especially until we get the Delta variant under control.”
How CNN’s Chris Cuomo started his show tonight:
“I’m Chris Cuomo. Welcome to "Prime Time." We're focused on COVID here.”
He’s forgetting something. pic.twitter.com/weS89sGTtT
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 4, 2021
He proceeded to attack Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for opposing mask mandates, as well as former President Donald Trump. “Think about how many lives could have been saved, if Trump made the vaccine as much of a symbol of support for him as his hats,” he mused.
At the traditional hand-off of his show to Don Lemon, Chris — who usually lets Lemon initiate the conversation — directed their banter to Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone. Cuomo continued to speak with uncharacteristic length and passion.
Then, he signed off. He had successfully ignored his brother’s woes, and his own, for an hour.
That would come to an end, as Lemon began his show by saying: “The calls are getting louder and louder. This is what I’m talking about: Top Democrats from New York to the White House calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign.”
“I love ya brother.”
“I love ya D. Lemon.”
And then…
This was quite the, uh, handoff, between Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon tonight on CNN. Watch the journalistic whiplash: pic.twitter.com/x0GsD8dwWz
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) August 4, 2021
Lemon would make lurid accusations contained in the Cuomo sexual harassment report the lead story on both hours of his show. He asked Mariann Wang — the attorney who represents two of the 11 women named in the report: Alyssa McGrath and Virginia Limmiatis — about her clients’ “traumatic” experience. “How are your clients feeling tonight?”
Lemon assessed that Governor Cuomo’s “tone-deaf, I should say defiant, taped statement didn’t really help him.”
“Anderson Cooper 360” guest host John Berman also covered the damning report. But neither touched on their colleague’s role in the sexual harassment scandal.
On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James released detailed allegations from 11 women who accused Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) of sexual harassment, ranging from perceived propositions to touching women’s breasts and buttocks. The report adds that the governor relied on a group of “confidantes” to do damage control. The group included Chris Cuomo, who received “confidential and often privileged information” about his brother’s alleged victims, even though Chris is not a state employee. It also shows that Chris Cuomo apparently contributed to, or drafted, his brother’s February 28 statement on the allegations.
Lemon still managed to attack former President Trump in his coverage, asking if Andrew Cuomo will “take a page out of the Trump play book … and just hunker down.”
But it was Chris Cuomo who seemed content to burrow into his slot, ignore the scandal, and carry on like nothing happened. “Chris surely has a lot to say about his brother,” wrote CNN’s “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter. “But for the time being he is staying silent.”
So is CNN’s management which, as of this writing, has yet to release a statement on the report’s revelations about Chris Cuomo.
Their silence and insistence on keeping Chris Cuomo on the air is denying CNN viewers information about the day’s top story on the network’s top-rated show.
“Can Chris Cuomo continue to helm his 9pm show while being connected to one of the biggest stories in politics?” wrote Stelter. “CNN management said yes on Tuesday by keeping him on the air.”
Waiting out a scandal has worked for former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, for fellow Democratic Governors Ralph Northam of Virginia and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and — ‘til Tuesday — for Andrew Cuomo. CNN is betting it will work for Chris Cuomo, as well.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Source: Dailywire
