Chris Cuomo, 51, sports baseball cap with ‘I have issues’ slogan for Hamptons coffee run

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, 50, has been pictured out and about wearing a cap which reads ‘I have issues’. 

Perhaps one of those ‘issues’ is his show after ratings hit an all-time low last week, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings data. Cuomo’s daily 9pm program drew 684,000 total average viewers last week with 156,000 in the advertiser-coveted age demographic of 25 to 54.

It is a fraction of the 1.137 million total viewers and 377,000 demo viewers which the show pulled in when it started in June 2018. Prime Time was the 25th-ranked cable news program in total average viewers for the week.

By comparison, over on Fox News, Cuomo’s rival Sean Hannity pulled in an average of 3.486 million viewers, 572,000 in the 25 to 54 demographic. 

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, in the same time slot attracted 1.915 million viewers with 263,000 in the demo. 

Cuomo’s primetime program still manages to bring in more viewers than his old morning show program, New Day, which sees 324,000 viewers on average tuning in to watch. 

Cuomo’s rating began to decline after his brother, Andrew Cuomo, resigned as governor of New York following accusations of sexual harassment by several women. In August, Cuomo Prime Time was still CNN’s highest-rated show with an average of 964,000 viewers and 222,000 in the demographic. 

Last year, Andrew Cuomo regularly appeared on Chris’s show, where he was lavished with praise over New York’s handling of the COVID crisis. In one interview, Chris reportedly told Andrew he was ‘the best politician in the country’. 

His silence on the sex pest scandal – which reached boiling point after New York’s Attorney General said it believed the governor’s 11 accusers only served to fuel further allegations of hypocrisy. In a speech broadcast live on CNN, he revealed that he advised his brother Andrew to resign as New York Governor on August 16. He also issued a public apology as a result of his intervention in the strategizing of the scandal. 

Cuomo said: ‘I can be objective about just about any topic, but not about my family. Those of you who watch this show get it. Like you, I bet, my family means everything to me. And I am fiercely loyal to them. I am family first, job second.’ 

‘When my brother’s situation became turbulent, being looped into calls with other friends of his and advisors that did include some of his staff, I understand why that was a problem for CNN. It will not happen again,’ he continued. ‘It was a mistake because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot. I never intended for that, I would never intend for that, and I am sorry for that.’

Over the weekend, it was revealed the disgraced former governor is considering running for political rival Letitia James’ attorney general post. Cuomo, 63, held the position from 2007 to 2010 before becoming governor and now sources close to the politician told the New York Post he could run for the position once again in 2022. ‘People in Cuomo’s orbit are tossing it out there,’ a person close to Cuomo told the Post. ‘They’re floating [the idea].’

Cuomo himself told New York Magazine that he didn’t ‘know what the future holds,’ in their latest edition and said: ‘I’m at peace. Look, it’s simple: I trust the people and the truth will [win] out.’ Cuomo told the magazine he’s enjoying his ‘vacation.’ ‘I never took summer vacation. I didn’t do that. I never took vacations, period,’ he said. ‘So, I’m enjoying time with family and friends. That’s all I’m doing.’