CNN is being accused of a double-standard after it fired Rick Santorum who says he was ‘savaged for telling the truth’ even as the network stood by anchor Chris Cuomo when he admitted to secretly advising his brother on harassment allegations.
Santorum said he is standing by his comments on the founding of the U.S. that outraged some Native Americans after they were seen as insensitive.
CNN insiders, meanwhile, say the network has rolled over when it comes to enforcing journalistic standards after it was revealed that Cuomo told his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to ‘take a defiant position’ on sexual harassment allegations made by women who had worked with the governor.
‘I’m very disappointed in the network,’ a current on-air personality told the Daily Beast about the lack of discipline for Cuomo. CNN said it wouldn’t discipline Cuomo, according to the Washington Post.
Santorum, meanwhile, a Republican former senator from Pennsylvania, was fired by the network over the weekend from his commentator position.
‘You get savaged for telling the truth,’ Santorum told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview on Monday, defending his remarks last month to a conservative youth group.
‘We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,’ Santorum told the group on April 23, before being fired last weekend. ‘I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.’
Santorum on Monday said that he ‘misspoke’ but defended the intent of his remarks, saying that he was referring to the founding of the United States government and blaming ‘cancel culture’ at CNN for his firing.
Rick Santorum is standing by the comments about Native Americans that recently got him fired from CNN, saying ‘You get savaged for telling the truth’
On May 6, 1626, Dutch colonial officer Peter Minuit purchases Manhattan Island from Man-a-hat-a Native Americans, for trinkets valued at $24
‘What I said was not at all disparaging towards Native Americans: What I was talking about is the founding of the United States of America and that Native Americans did not have a role in the founding of our country,’ said Santorum.
‘Now, you can say that’s a bad thing or a good thing or the way we treated Native Americans was bad, but I was giving a talk to a group of young people talking about the founding principles of religious liberty and how important it was to the immigrants who came here to found this country. And that was an important value that was imbued into our Constitution.’
Santorum said that CNN president Jeff Zucker (above) had not spoken to him personally regarding his firing
‘One of the things I’m concerned about is you get savaged for telling the truth, and I told the truth here,’ Santorum insisted.
‘Don Lemon came on right after my interview and said that Native Americans founded the United States of America. And again, you are entitled to your opinion, but not the facts, and that’s where I think we have gotten off-kilter here a little bit in America,’ he said, referring to another CNN host.
‘I have no animus, I appreciate the opportunity that they [CNN] gave me, but it shows that the left is intolerant,’ Santorum said. ‘And I hear from a lot of liberals – in fact many CNN contributors – who talked to me afterward who were very, very concerned about the cancel culture that is now hitting them at CNN.’
Santorum said that CNN President Jeff Zucker had not spoken to him personally regarding his firing.
‘I have not talked to Jeff,’ he said. ‘I do know that several groups, paid groups, have been trying to get me fired for four years. There’s been a pretty persistent effort on social media.’
During a town hall with CNN employees on Tuesday, Zucker addressed the network’s decision to drop Santorum as a paid guest commentator, according to Washington Post reporter Jeremy Barr.
‘He was an important voice for the past five years,’ Zucker said. ‘But his recent comments were inappropriate and racist.’
Media observers suggested CNN may have fired Santorum to distract attention from Chris Cuomo, who was forced to apologize after he was found to have joined strategy calls to help his brother, the governor of New York, deal with the fallout from his sexual harassment scandal.
CNN has been accused of hypocrisy for failing to take action against Chris Cuomo, right, who admitted taking part in strategy calls to help his brother Andrew, left, deal with the fallout from his sexual harassment scandal
‘Santorum being fired now, in late May, for comments he made in April that CNN tried to scuttle outrage over via apologetic appearances on other network shows is nothing more than a distraction from the news it won’t punish Chris Cuomo for secretly strategizing with his brother,’ commentator Jordan Uhl wrote on Twitter.
On his show, Cuomo admitted that it was a ‘mistake’ to join the calls, but appeared to minimize his actions, saying that ‘of course’ he would give his brother advice.
‘I’m family first, job second,’ he said.
CNN insiders have expressed fury that Chris Cuomo’s exhausted status appears to be insulating him from any consequences, after the network called his actions ‘inappropriate’ but said he would not be disciplined.
‘I’m very disappointed in the network,’ a woman who works on-air at CNN told The Daily Beast. ‘I think some disciplinary action, at a minimum, was required in this situation.’
The woman said that Chris Cuomo ‘was always put in an untenable position,’ given his job, but ultimately, she said, ‘I don’t think there were enough guardrails’ to prevent this sort of scandal.
‘As a woman who works here, I feel a little let down, to be honest,’ she said.
In the wake of Santorum’s firing, CNN has been accused of double-standards for failing to take action against primetime star Chris Cuomo
‘Chris Cuomo’s concern for his brother is admirable but working to discredit the multiple women who have accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual impropriety is both journalistically and morally immoral,’ another regular on-air guest told the outlet.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was fired from the New Yorker after exposing himself on a Zoom call, is also thought to still be employed by the network, though he has been on a hiatus for some six months.
Santorum, a former Republican presidential candidate and senator for Pennsylvania, made his controversial remarks during a speech at the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth group, on April 23.
His remarks drew protests and headlines at the time, and Santorum was brought on-air at CNN to clarify his remarks.
‘I was talking about – and I misspoke in this respect – I was talking about the founding and the principles embodied in the founding,’ he said on May 3.
‘I would never – and people said I’m trying to dismiss what we did to the Native Americans, far from it,’ he said. ‘What I was talking about is, as you can see from the run-up, I was talking about the founding of our country.’
CNN host Don Lemon (left) was not impressed and tore into Santorum on ‘Cuomo Prime Time’ for not apologizing for his ‘insulting’ statements
CNN host Don Lemon responded to the clarification by tearing into Santorum for not apologizing for his ‘insulting’ statements.
‘I cannot believe the first words out of his mouth weren’t ”I’m sorry. I said something ignorant, I need to learn about the history of this country.” No contrition, didn’t talk about the suffering that Native Americans have had to deal with in this country. It was, I mean, Rick Santorum, really?’ Lemon told host Chris Cuomo after the interview.
‘Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?’ Lemon asked, exasperated. ‘I mean, it was horrible. It was horrible and insulting, and I apologize to the viewers who were insulted by it, because I was sitting in my office, furious, because he’s done it so many times. So many times, and it’s just, I’m sorry, it was just so egregious and insulting,’ said Lemon.
‘I made a mistake’: CNN’s Chris Cuomo admits he ‘crossed the line’ taking part in official calls advising brother Andrew during his sex-pest scandal after network bosses said it was ‘inappropriate’
CNN host Chris Cuomo says he is ‘truly sorry’ for taking part in strategy calls advising his brother Gov. Andrew Cuomo through his sex-pest scandal – adding that he compromised his colleagues at the network.
His public comment comes after he was thrown to the wolves by CNN bosses after it was revealed he’d been privately coaching his governor brother through an ongoing sex scandal.
But Cuomo’s mea culpa cut little ice with one unnamed colleague, who told Fox News the star’s behavior was ‘despicable.’
That insider said: ‘To say it’s ‘cancel culture’ – it’s despicable.
‘It’s the height of hypocrisy for Chris to have [his brother] on there for the good news but doesn’t have him on to discuss the bad news.
‘It’s laughable for him to be so judgmental of other people for their wrongdoings and he’s sitting there enabling and coming up with excuses for someone with sexual misconduct allegations.’
The furious CNN mole added that the network’s official statement calling Cuomo’s conduct ‘inappropriate’ was ‘an understatement.’
The governor made numerous appearances on his own brother’s show last year, for lighthearted interviews that featured brotherly banter
They spoke as Cuomo issued a groveling apology on his show Thursday night.
‘If you would allow me a moment, if you will remember, I told you back in the beginning of March that I can’t cover my brother’s troubles. It wouldn’t be fair. And you got it then, and I appreciate you understanding,’ Cuomo said.
‘Now today, there are stories out there about me offering my brother advice. Of course I do, this is no revelation. I’ve said it publicly and I’ve certainly never hidden it. 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.’
Cuomo said that being a journalist and a brother to a politician comes with unique challenges and a ‘responsibility to balance those roles.’
‘It’s not always easy. People can say and write what they want but I want you to know the truth. How I helped my brother also matters,’ Cuomo said.
He said that when his brother’s situation ‘became turbulent’ he started getting ‘looped into calls with other friends of his and advisers that did include some of his staff.’
‘I understand why that was a problem for CNN. It will not happen again. 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,’ he said.
Cuomo added that has never tried to influence CNN’s coverage of his brother and has in fact ‘been walled off from it.’
‘This is a unique and difficult situation, and that’s okay. I know where the line is. I can respect it and still be there for my family, which I must. I have to do that,’ he said.
‘I love my brother. I love my family. I love my job, and I love and respect my colleagues here at CNN. And again, to them I am truly sorry.’
A spokesman for the network admitted his behavior was ‘inappropriate’, after it was revealed Chris had been advising New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his taxpayer-funded staffers on how to weather sexual harassment claims.
CNN added that Chris Cuomo would not face punishment – but it allowed unnamed staff members to stick the knife into him in its own report on the gaffe.
That story pointedly said: ‘The revelation that Cuomo had advised his brother vexed staffers inside CNN. Multiple CNN staffers said they were bothered by Cuomo’s conduct and the violation of traditional journalistic standards.
‘Journalists typically do not engage in politics so that they can cover the news in an impartial manner.’
Chris Cuomo reportedly told his brother to take a stand against ‘cancel culture’ after the first of nine women to make sexual harassment allegations against his older sibling emerged in December 2020.
The TV host also advised taxpayer-funded New York state officials on how to help his sibling weather the storm.
Cable news anchor Chris encouraged his brother to take a defiant position and not resign from the governor’s office, according to people who listened to the calls told the Washington Post.
He did so despite publicly claiming it would be inappropriate to report on the same sex pest scandal on his nightly show.
Chris Cuomo and CNN now face fresh hypocrisy allegations after granting Governor Cuomo hours of positive coverage and simpering interviews during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis last year.
Chris would regularly interview his brother and heap praise on him for the Empire State’s handling of the pandemic – despite claims their close family ties made such coverage unprofessional and inappropriate.
Commenting on the coaching scandal, a CNN spokesman said: ‘Chris has not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes.’
‘In part because, as he has said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because he often serves as a sounding board for his brother.’
‘However, it was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the Governor’s staff, which Chris acknowledges,’ the statement added. ‘He will not participate in such conversations going forward.’
The conference calls took place earlier this year, with a total of nine women accusing the Democratic governor of making inappropriate remarks, lewd suggestions, or unwanted physical contact.
Chris Cuomo remained notably silent on the air as the scandal unfolded, and was similarly quiet over a parallel outrage his brother’s handling of pandemic deaths in nursing homes.
‘Obviously, I am aware of what is going on with my brother,’ he finally told viewers on March 1, as the allegations piled up.