As soon as New York AG Letitia James announced that the investigation into Andrew Cuomo concluded that he had sexually harassed multiple women, everyone started wondering what Cuomo would do. We fully expected him to paint himself as the real victim — which he did — but would he resign?
And what about his brother, Chris Cuomo? Not only did Chris spend months propping up Andrew while Andrew had the blood of COVID19 victims on his hands, but behind the scenes, he also helped Andrew try to navigate the sea of sexual harassment allegations. Talk about gross conflicts of interest. CNN didn’t seem to care that Chris had joked with his brother about COVID19 on the air, but once the calls for Andrew to resign over the allegations started coming in, would CNN finally act on Chris’ flagrantly unethical behavior?
Of course they didn’t. And according to CNN’s Brian Stelter, we shouldn’t expect that to change:
Chris Cuomo didn't say anything about his brother on CNN Tuesday night, but anyone listening to his daily radio show on SiriusXM has heard his feelings in recent weeks. He had been steeling himself for the AG report… (1/2)
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 4, 2021
On the air, Chris has sounded protective of his brother at times; bitter about the political warfare at other times; and detached from it at other other times. Overall, I'd say, he sounded realistic about life as a member of his famous political family. https://t.co/2IxpD2untp
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 4, 2021
Overall, Brian would say that Chris Cuomo is just gonna keep on Chris Cuomo-ing at CNN.
More from Stelter:
Can Chris Cuomo continue to helm his 9pm show while being connected to one of the biggest stories in politics? CNN management said yes on Tuesday by keeping him on the air. Chris started to call his show a “Covid command center” last week and he kept up the theme on Tuesday, leading with the Covid case surge among the unvaccinated and interviewing Jerome Adams about it.
Inside CNN, some staffers I spoke with were supportive of Cuomo on Tuesday, recognizing that no one chooses their family members, and that viewers expected to see him on the air for “Prime Time,” one of the network’s highest-rated shows. Some other staffers were, as BuzzFeed News wrote, “highly critical of the company’s decision not to discipline Chris Cuomo for his role in the scandal.”
That’s because of Chris Cuomo’s role advising his brother, and even collaborating with members of his brother’s senior staff, as the sexual harassment charges crested earlier this year. The Washington Post reported on this in May, and CNN publicly chastised Chris for participating in calls with the governor’s staffers. Chris also publicly apologized to his colleagues at the time for putting them in a “bad spot.”
A CNN spokeswoman declined further comment on the matter on Tuesday. Chris was mentioned a few times in the AG’s report. As the NYT’s Michael Grynbaum wrote, “One document included in the report shows Chris Cuomo participating in an email chain on Feb. 28 in which the group drafted a formal public statement for Governor Cuomo; the statement was issued by the governor’s office later that day. Chris Cuomo appeared to weigh in on the wording of the statement, although it was unclear if he wrote it.”
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Overall, Brian seems pretty meh about all this. As does CNN. We get the feeling that if Andrew Cuomo were a Republican and Chris Cuomo worked for Fox News instead of CNN, Stelter et al.’s tone would be at least a little bit angrier and outrage-ier.
But this … is CNN. So this is what we get. We get BS.
I believe CNN made a mistake by leaving Chris on the air this week. Matters were compounded when Chris didn't speak to the news of the day during his show. It wreaks of impropriety.
— Peter Monaghan (@TinMann0715) August 4, 2021
Appalling abdication of responsibility by @CNN to allow Chris Cuomo to have his show and pretend his THE STORY OF THE DAY had not happened. Chris should have been off the air last night. Really bad decision making. https://t.co/kZUIs0KEY9
— Pamela Schuur 💐 (@PamelaSchuur) August 4, 2021
We’re sure there’s a very good explanation.
So you're saying that he's free to cover the news at SiriusXM, but not at your network? Sounds worth covering.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) August 4, 2021
This is not the tweet you think it is, Brian.
If he talks about it on his podcast, why not on CNN? https://t.co/8OYVjsxHwe
— Betelgeuse (@Beetle2daJuice) August 4, 2021
Why *didn't* he say anything on his CNN show about it? Did CNN forbid it? Any insider info on this?
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) August 4, 2021
The info is “no comment.”
silence is complicity: "A CNN spokeswoman declined further comment on the matter on Tuesday." https://t.co/TYFap5sIth
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) August 4, 2021
Apparently we’re just supposed to let Chris Cuomo and CNN go about their business.
He's one of the victims here, when you think about it. https://t.co/NG906Sqyl5
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) August 4, 2021
Chris Cuomo put his CNN coworkers in a bad spot. Apparently CNN thinks that him having to apologize for further jeopardizing their credibility was punishment enough.
Oh well. Shrug emoji! https://t.co/ksHkKCCVeO
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) August 4, 2021
You're such a pathetic little coward… Every tweet you make is enough reason for ppl to despise the media as a whole, every thought you have or segment on air, your very existence is nothing more than nails on a chalkboard… You 2 dollar patata kahba https://t.co/rw80RxrNZc
— Ahmed Al Asliken (@assliken) August 4, 2021
This might be the most pathetic thing about the media so far in this whole circus and that’s saying something. https://t.co/6Hc49hCJTB
— NevilleTheCat (@FearTheFloof) August 4, 2021
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