Chris Cuomo’s colleagues in the liberal media have turned on him in the wake of bombshell records revealing how he conspired with his brother’s team to undermine sexual harassment accusers, and are now among those calling for him to be fired.
Cuomo returned to the CNN anchor chair last night for his show and ignored the revelations that emerged in transcripts and exhibits released by Attorney General Letitia James hours earlier.
They included texts he had sent to his brother, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and his aides like Melissa DeRosa, where he not only advised him on how to weather his sex pest scandal, but drafted statements for the team and used his CNN contacts to find out more about his accusers.
CNN said yesterday that Cuomo’s fate would be decided in the next few days, once its bosses and lawyers have had a chance to review all of the documents.
Cuomo’s show is the highest rated on CNN, or was for 2020, but ratings have slumped this year and hit an all-time low at the start of November, of 684,000. By contrast, Fox’s Tucker Carlson drew over 3million on average, and the network’s Sean Hannity drew 2.75million. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s primetime host, gets around 2million viewers per show.
Journalists and some politicians are now calling for Cuomo to be fired immediately, calling his actions ‘deeply unethical’. CNN’s hosts and reporters are pussyfooting around it, only saying Cuomo was ‘more intimately involved than previously known.’
Rolling Stone was among the publications that led the charge yesterday. It published a story about the texts with the headline: ‘Chris Cuomo Caught Doing Something That Would Get Any Other Journalist Fired.’
Journalists from NPR, The Los Angeles Times, The Independent and other outlets also shared their shock on social media and said his actions would have gotten any of them fired.
Cuomo returned to the CNN anchor chair last night for his show and ignored the revelations that emerged in transcripts and exhibits released by Attorney General Letitia James hours earlier
Journalists across the board slammed Cuomo and CNN for still allowing him to work at the network despite the revelations in the attorney general’s report
Rolling Stone’s coverage of the text revelations was damning of Chris Cuomo, one of CNN’s many hosts
Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Schachtman then tweeted: ‘If this story is accurate, it describes a series of shocking ethical breaches — fireable offenses at any other news outlet.’
He was not alone in his condemnation of the younger Cuomo brother’s involvement in the scandal.
Other, less liberal outlets like The Atlantic also called for Cuomo to be fired
Andrew Feinberg of The Independent tweeted: ‘I’ll repeat what I’ve said before on this subject. This stuff would be a fireable offense in most newsrooms.’
NY1 reporter Zach Fink was stunned that Cuomo was back on the air last night.
‘Not only is Chris Cuomo on for his regular time slot on CNN but he’s bantering about Tony Bennett with Anderson Cooper.
‘Cuomo was implicated ( again ) in newly released transcripts helping his brother discredit women who accused the former Governor of harassment.’
L.A. Times reporter Erin B. Logan tweeted: ‘Amazing that Chris Cuomo still has a cushy job at CNN after flagrantly violating journalistic ethics.’ Other journalists were just as stunned.
Other reporters, writers and editors from a range of publications called for him to be fired too.
Meghan McCain tweeted: ‘There are good people who work at CNN. What the network is doing to so many hardworking people by continuing to employ Chris Cuomo is nothing short of ethical malpractice.
Pages of text exchanges between Chris Cuomo and Andrew Cuomo’s top aid Melissa DeRosa were released by the New York Attorney General’s office Monday. Investigators asked Cuomo during the investigation about a March 2021 text where he wrote to DeRosa: ‘If Ronan has nothing better – better than Boylan, that’s a great sign’
Pages of texts messages released by AG Letitia James shows how Chris Cuomo strategized with his brother Andrew’s office, specifically with top aide Melissa DeRosa
Chris is shown with his brother, former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, left. Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s most senior aide, is shown, right
‘He is a disgrace to journalism and a national embarrassment who tarnishes every SINGLE person at CNN.’
Elected officials like Senator Marsha Blackburn and Elise Stefanik also called for his removal.
Blackburn tweeted: ‘Chris Cuomo is not a real journalist,’ whereas Stefanik said: ‘Fire Chris Cuomo.’
CNN’s hosts and journalists, on the other hand, have pussyfooted around it.
Brian Stelter said Cuomo was ‘more intimately involved – than previously known’ and Don Lemon, in his on-air handover to Cuomo last night, said: ‘It’s good to see you, I know you had a great Thanksgiving, I hope you did. I missed you. I’m grateful for your friendship and your love. I think you’re fantastic, one of the kindest people I know on this planet. There you go, I meant every word.’
Chris Cuomo told investigators under oath that they only had ‘irregular contact’.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo shared a fawning and cringeworthy exchange with Don Lemon as they praised each other’s kindness and friendship
CNN’s reporters and hosts have almost ignored the issue entirely. Brian Stelter said on Monday that Cuomo was ‘more intimately involved than previously known’ but that he did say back in August ‘this will be my final word on it’
The 51-year-old news anchor used his show on Monday to discuss Omicron, the new COVID variant, and the row between far right congresswoman Lauren Boebert and Ilhan Omar, the Muslim congresswoman representing Minnesota.
He then discussed smash-and-grab robberies across the country, and rising crime.
When he was criticized for failing to mention the scandal, CNN’s media commentator tweeted: ‘For what it’s worth, when Chris Cuomo addressed his actions on the air back in August, he said “this will be my final word on it,” and he hasn’t addressed the matter on TV since.’
Chris said on his show: ‘I hope your Thanksgiving was a reminder for everybody of the good people, and the good things, in your life,’ he said.
‘Lord knows we could use the help, right?’
He began his show with a discussion of Omicron.
Chris Cuomo said in one text to DeRosa: ‘I have a lead on the wedding girl.’ He was talking about Anna Ruch, who had complained that Cuomo grabbed her face and asked if he could kiss her while they attended a wedding (left). Ruch has not commented on the CNN host’s involvement
Ana Liss, left, said Cuomo kissed her hand and asked her if she had a boyfriend. Alyssa McGrath, right, said he told her she was beautiful
Charlotte Bennett, left, worked for the governor and said he made inappropriate remarks to her. Virginia Limmatis, right, said he ran his fingers across her breasts
Brittany Commisso, left, is who Cuomo has been charged with forcibly touching. He is due in court in January. Lindsey Boylan, right, claims he asked her to play strip poker and forcibly kissed her on the lips
‘I will take a little bit of a different take than a lot of other media. I don’t know that it helped, this Thanksgiving holiday, to have the news media blasting word of this new variant, Omicron.
On New Year’s Eve, 2019, Commisso claims Cuomo grabbed her buttocks before they took this selfie. He says it’s untrue, that she was excited by the picture and was ‘flirtatious’ with him
‘Of course the information is news. But the timing, the tone, the hype, goes way beyond that which is justified by the urgency at this point.
‘We don’t know that much.’
He said the ‘more questions than answers’ presentation was because it was new, and it was being spun as being deeply troubling.
‘They don’t know symptoms – anecdotally, a clinician said they were mild. Instead, there is too much talk about not knowing if it’s resistant.
‘We don’t know if it’s worse than Delta.’ He lamented ‘the feverish concern’.
Chris returned to the subject in his handover to Don Lemon, with Lemon saying that he was glad Chris had a good Thanksgiving with his family.
Lemon showered praise on Chris, saying he was grateful for his friendship and his kindness.
Chris’s decision on Monday not to discuss the saga involving his involvement in his brother’s situation came despite previously having vowed to be open with his viewers.
The New York-born presenter has had a difficult time trying to judge when to discuss the scandal, and when to ignore it.
On March 1, he said that he was aware of the accusations about his brother, after a third woman came forward to accuse him, but could not report on it.
‘Obviously I am aware of what is going on with my brother,’ he said.
‘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.’
At one point he told the room: ”I understand. I’m a former Attorney General. I’m aware of the Attorney General’s power. I’m aware of the special prosecutor power, independent investigator power, and I understand there may be subsequent investigations to this investigation, yes.’
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was deposed in July for the Attorney General’s report
He then moved on, having thanked his audience ‘for being straight with me, and I’ve always been straight with you’. He said he ‘always cared very deeply about these issues, and profoundly so.’
Several weeks of extremely uncomfortable handovers then ensued, as Chris refused to discuss the news – which at the time was a big story – while his co-hosts before and after discussed it extensively.
Despite having said he did not want to talk about it, when news of his assistance for his brother emerged in May, Chris apologized to viewers and colleagues.
When the New York attorney general’s report was published, on August 3, Chris Cuomo pointedly refused to discuss it – even while it was the lead item on his colleagues’ shows.
On August 16, shortly after Andrew resigned, Chris addressed it again, defending his behavior during the sex harassment scandal engulfing his brother – telling CNN viewers that he was not an adviser to Governor Andrew Cuomo, but rather: ‘I’m a brother.’
Chris’s stated intention of ignoring the story, and then being forced repeatedly to address it, has led to the anchor having a torrid year, with frequent calls for him to be fired.
In a statement to DailyMail.com on Monday evening, CNN said: ‘The thousands of pages of additional transcripts and exhibits that were released today by the NY Attorney General deserve a thorough review and consideration.
‘We will be having conversations and seeking additional clarity about their significance as they relate to CNN over the next several days.’