It is probably pretty arrogant of me to think that anyone would remember a lot of things I have written over my first year at Twitchy, let alone more recently.
I am not an arrogant person (well, most of the time I'm not ... unless you ask me about alternative music or maybe hockey), so I want to repeat something I have written more than a few times, especially since the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
I have had a pipe dream in my head about the media for a long time, longer than I have been a freelancer here. No, I don't hope for a conservative establishment media (I'm not that crazy). All my pipe dream entails is just having a remotely sane media. That's crazy enough as it is, given where we are now.
And I don't even have that dream about all of the talking heads in the media. Just one or two hosts or journalists. Just a couple of them to have what I have often called a 'moment of clarity' when it comes to how they cover Republicans in general and Trump specifically.
I don't think it's asking a whole lot, but it's still always remained a pipe dream.
Well, believe it or not, I think it has finally happened. And from one of the people in media from whom I would least expect it: Chris Cuomo.
We all know the jokes about Cuomo and how embarrassing he was when he was at CNN. We called him 'Fredo,' he held up the silly giant Q-tip while covering up the COVID crimes of his brother, then Governor Andrew Cuomo. So many more examples, like he and Don Lemon laughing about violence from the George Floyd protests. Frankly, I never had much hope that Cuomo would ever be much more than ... well, Fredo.
But I have to admit, after a second gunman tried to take Trump's life, Cuomo astounded me. And in a good way.
He apologized to Trump this week. No, really. He did. Watch:
Watching Chris Cuomo get redpilled is absolutely incredible pic.twitter.com/Ew1Dr0xj4W
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 17, 2024
Libs of TikTok may be going a little too far here. Cuomo isn't exactly 'redpilled.' He never will be. And that is fine.
What he did here was far more important than taking a red pill. He recovered his sense of decency and humanity.
'Either you care when anyone is hurt, or you'll never really care about anyone being hurt.'
OK, so it's not the best phrasing in the world, but I think we all know what he meant. And it's just that simple.
Here is a longer clip of Cuomo's monologue and you'll see he hasn't taken a red pill. He is still very critical of Trump and makes as many demands of him as he does of himself and his colleagues on the left. Maybe more.
Chris Cuomo's apology to Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ijHLapuiHZ
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) September 17, 2024
I could nitpick this clip apart for some of the logical errors Cuomo is making, but the most important point is that he is sorry. And he said he is sorry. Not to us, but to the person who deserves an apology from him (and so many others): Donald Trump.
He also calls out the horrible people attacking Melania Trump for being worried about her husband's life, perhaps even her own life and that of her son.
Again, just basic human decency. That's all. But it is remarkable how Cuomo's words stand alone on an island amid a sea of pundits who continue to incite violence with their rhetoric about Trump.
Truly astonishing.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 17, 2024
And very glad to see it.
WATCH 👇 https://t.co/nWuiWRg9Cw
It is sad that it's astonishing, but I echo Ted Cruz in that I am very happy to see it.
Cuomo makes another admission in his monologue. No, Trump is not a 'despot-in-waiting.' The people who call him a 'threat to democracy' every day on America's airwaves know this, but they lie about it for political power.
Cuomo isn't lying about that anymore. Not when he has seen what that type of language can lead to, as we all have.
I knew deep down that Chris Cuomo had a soul. Thank god he left that soulless CNN. Thank you Chris you are one of the good guys. @ChrisCuomo https://t.co/yDAcQ3yY6f
— seaside782🍊 (@Seaside7812) September 18, 2024
Just have a soul, for crying out loud. I know the media will never support a Republican, least of all Trump. But try to be a human being.
This tweet raises a good point, though. Cuomo is saying this after having been fired from the corporate monolith known as CNN. If he was still a host on that network, would he have said any of this? Almost certainly not.
We saw this, albeit briefly, from Brian Stelter too during his exile from CNN. He actually tweeted some sane thoughts, specifically about how the left loves to censor anyone who doesn't agree with them. Ahh, but then the lure of coming back to CNN was dangled in front of him and now Stelter has returned to being the potato who will repeat whatever the leftist narrative of the day is (including blaming Trump for the assassination attempt).
People often say celebrities 'sell their souls' for fame and fortune. In the case of news media pundits, it might literally be true. If you want the big bucks and face time from the networks, you have to say what they tell you to say.
I am thankful that Cuomo no longer has that lure ... at least not right now.
As soon as he left the CNN silo, he got a billion % more honest. https://t.co/51rRFzudHB
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 17, 2024
It's kind of amazing. Cuomo even started apologizing and telling the truth about COVID after he left CNN. No more giant Q-tips and mockery of people who didn't want to be forced into compliance.
This. Is. Incredible.
— CatAttorney (@theQueenofQt) September 18, 2024
Thank you @ChrisCuomo for being a human. I don’t agree with any of your policy positions but I agree with you on this.
You are being a real man right now and I thank you. https://t.co/HzsUMssNH1
Good for Cuomo. Those who cannot unequivocally condemn even attempts to murder their political opponents have become exactly what they claim to oppose. https://t.co/cjlroPLurw
— Edward Feser (@FeserEdward) September 17, 2024
It seems amazing that the tweet above even has to be written, but this is where we are. And as Cuomo said, I don't know how we get to a better place. Not when the media continues to act as deplorably as they do. But maybe Cuomo's apology is a good place to start.
Chris Cuomo saying what nobody on the left has the guts or conviction to say. People like Don Lemon owe Donald & Melania Trump a huge apology. https://t.co/0zJY8HBdkG
— No Soup 4 Knowles (@nosoup4knowles) September 17, 2024
Deep down, I believe that even those gutless people who refuse to say what Cuomo said here know how horrible it is. But money, fame, and authority are some tremendous drugs. And they know they would lose all of that if they spoke from their hearts and not from their programming.
Chris Cuomo will probably say something I strongly disagree with in the near future (as I noted above, he even said some things I disagree with here). Fair enough. I'll be here -- and so will the rest of the Twitchy Team -- to call him on that.
But for today, he gets my thanks and applause for simply having the decency to say that the media cannot keep behaving the way they do. No matter how much the media hates Trump, Cuomo said it right: 'He doesn't deserve this.'
I am grateful for his monologue and I am really grateful that he is no longer with CNN.
Independence and freedom are wonderful things, aren't they?
