CNN’s own guest called out the network for allowing “love-a-thon” interviews between host Chris Cuomo and his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo to take place.
Yesterday, Washington Post writer Erik Wemple told CNN’s “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter that the fawning interviews between Cuomo and his brother were a “major black eye” for the network.
Stelter asked Wemple about the media coverage of Governor Cuomo’s growing scandals “up until now.”
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention CNN’s own huge media story here,” Wemple replied.
“Chris Cuomo, the anchor at the 9 o’clock hour, who covered Andrew Cuomo and had all these wonderful love-a-thon interviews with him — more than 10 of them.”
“They suspended the conflict-of-interest rule for Chris Cuomo for those interviews,” Wemple continued. “Yet all of a sudden they’ve enforced it again now that Andrew Cuomo was in the midst of an historic scandal in the Albany statehouse.”
“I think that is major black eye for CNN,” he said.
WaPo’s Erik Wemple said it is a “major black eye for CNN” that they suspended the conflict of interest rule for Chris Cuomo to do “love-a-thon” interviews with Gov. Cuomo but start enforcing it when Gov. Cuomo is facing multiple scandals. pic.twitter.com/wfFhW1ZEF7
— Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) March 14, 2021
During the height of the COVID pandemic, CNN appeared to make an exception to its rule that Chris Cuomo wouldn’t interview his brother. The two then conducted multiple flattering interviews together, at a time when the media and politicians were praising the governor for his handling of the international health crisis.
Once things started turning south for Gov. Cuomo, however, CNN announced it had reinstated its “rule” preventing the journalist from covering his brother.
Chris Cuomo addressed the scandals briefly on his show on March 1, saying “Obviously I am aware of what’s going on with my brother. And obviously I cannot cover it, because he is my brother.”
Former Aide to Gov. Cuomo Said He Was ‘Propositioning’ Her For ‘Sex’
In a one-on-one meeting in his Albany office last year, former aide Charlotte Bennett said that Gov. Cuomo was “trying to sleep with me.” 25 year old Bennett added “he implied to me that I was old enough for him and he was lonely.”
In an interview with Norah O’Donnell on CBS evening news Thursday night, Bennett described how 63 year old Cuomo asked her probing questions about her sex life when they were alone together on June 5.
“I thought, he’s trying to sleep with me. The governor’s trying to sleep with me and I’m deeply uncomfortable and I have to get out of this room as soon as possible,” Bennett said.
“What made you think he was trying to sleep with you?” O’Donnell asked.
“Without explicitly saying it, he — he implied to me that I was old enough for him and he was lonely,” Bennett said.
A second portion of the interview is set to air Friday on “CBS This Morning,” and O’Donnell previewed some of that during an appearance on the local CBS-2 News at 5.
O’Donnell said that Bennett “says Gov. Cuomo is, in her words, a textbook abuser” and “even uses words like that she was groomed for this relationship.”
Gov. Cuomo is already under investigation over his administration’s misreporting of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes. A Cuomo aide admitted that the state stopped counting nursing home deaths so that the federal government could not use the data “against us.”
Biden FINALLY Responds to Calls for Cuomo’s Resignation
President Biden finally broke his silence on the growing scandals surrounding New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
As he returned to the White House yesterday after spending the weekend at his home in Delaware, Biden was asked by a pool reporter if Cuomo should resign.
“I think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us.”
From pool report:
REPORTER: 'Do you think Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign?'
POTUS: 'I think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us.'
Cuomo will likely be happy with Biden position. Buys time.— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 14, 2021
Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris refused for weeks to publicly weigh in on the scandals as a growing number of women accused the governor of sexual harassment.
The White House repeatedly defended their silence by insisting that the president and vice president believe “every woman who has come forward deserves to have her voice heard” and “be treated with respect.”
On Friday, Sens. Kristen Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer joined the chorus of New York Congressional Democrats calling for Cuomo’s resignation.
Cuomo still refuses to resign and implied he is a victim of “cancel culture.”
In a conference call with reporters on Friday, Cuomo said, “There are facts and then there are opinions. And I’ve always separated the two. Politicians who don’t know a single fact, but yet form a conclusion and an opinion, are in my opinion reckless and dangerous.”
“The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance. That, my friends, is politics at its worst. People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth,” he said.
Despite having served three terms as governor and marrying a Kennedy, Cuomo claimed he was not “part of the political club” and he’s “proud of it.”
“My entire life I have been under public scrutiny, since I was 23 years old and ran my father’s campaign. New Yorkers know me. Wait for the facts,” he said.
