CNN's Chris Cuomo: ‘Obviously’ I Can’t Cover My Brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo
CNN’s Chris Cuomo opened his show Monday night by acknowledging the scandals surrounding his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
Three women have accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct. He denied two claims of sexual harassment and has not responded to the third claim of unwanted advances. The New York governor is also the subject of a federal investigation for allegedly covering up coronavirus-related deaths at nursing homes in the state.
“Obviously, I am aware of what is going on with my brother. And obviously, I cannot cover it because he is my brother,” Chris Cuomo told viewers, breaking his silence on his sibling, who has faced calls to resign from both sides of the aisle.
“Now, of course CNN has to cover it,” the prime-time anchor continued, without elaborating on which controversy he was talking about. “They have covered it extensively, and they will continue to do so.”
“I have always cared very deeply about these issues, and profoundly so. I just wanted to tell you that,” he added. “There’s a lot of news going on that matters also, so let’s get after that.”
Watch the video here:
>> @ChrisCuomo at the top of @CuomoPrimeTime tonight: "Obviously I am aware of what is going on with my brother. And obviously I cannot cover it because he is my brother. Now, of course CNN has to cover it. They have covered it extensively and they will continue to do so." pic.twitter.com/G49mZYTG4D
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 2, 2021
People on Twitter asked why Chris Cuomo was not covering his brother now but had conducted regular jokey on-air interviews with him during the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic.
That makes sense.
What never made sense to me was Chris Cuomo covering him when things were going well for Andrew Cuomo. https://t.co/qzk0qrQZeE— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) March 2, 2021
The fact CNN ever allowed Andrew Cuomo to appear on Chris Cuomo’s show is incomprehensible to me. https://t.co/2SbF0iMCQV
— Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) March 2, 2021
You cannot cover your own brother’s scandals. You can only have him on your show for whimsical brotherly jabs, prop comedy, and other humorous bits in the midst of the ranging pandemic he is mishandling. Everyone knows this https://t.co/3Jjxkl6oBV
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) March 2, 2021
Cool, but what about the ten times you did it last year? https://t.co/VWpT73xdZV
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) March 2, 2021
Last month, CNN said the pandemic interviews between the pair were an exception because of the “extraordinary time” the country was going through.
“We felt that Chris speaking with his brother about the challenges of what millions of American families were struggling with was of significant human interest,” the network said in a statement, per People. “As a result, we made an exception to a rule that we have had in place since 2013 which prevents Chris from interviewing and covering his brother, and that rule remains in place today. CNN has covered the news surrounding Governor Cuomo extensively.”
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.