Chris Cuomo Announces That He Cannot Cover Brother Gov. Andrew Cuomo After Many Positive Segments Last Year

 

CNN host Chris Cuomo opened his primetime show Monday night by informing viewers that he is aware of multiple scandals plaguing his brother New York Governor Andrew Cuomo but said he cannot cover them since the two are brothers.

“Before we start tonight, let me say something that I’m sure is very obvious to you who watch my show,” Cuomo said on CNN shortly after 9 p.m. as he kicked off “Cuomo Prime Time” Monday evening.“Obviously, I’m aware of what’s going on with my brother. And obviously I cannot cover it because he is my brother,” Cuomo continued. “Now, of course, CNN has to cover it. They have covered it extensively, and they will continue to do so.”

Earlier on Monday, Governor Cuomo was accused by a third woman of sexual harassment; Anna Ruch said that she met the governor at a wedding in 2019, where he called her “aggressive” for removing his hand from her lower back and took her face in his hands and asked if he could kiss her, a moment caught on camera. Last week, a former high-level Cuomo aide accused him of forcibly kissing her on the lips in his office in 2018 and several days later another former aide in her early 20s said the governor harassed her about her sex life last year and asked whether she slept with older men.

Meanwhile, Cuomo is also weathering his administration’s dismal handling of the coronavirus in nursing homes, where thousands died last year due to the governor’s disastrous policy of forcing nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients after they were discharged from the hospital. Then last month, a Cuomo aide admitted to covering up the actual nursing home death toll in New York in order to hide the data from federal authorities.Chris Cuomo, the younger of the Cuomo brothers, assured his viewers Monday night that that he has “always cared very deeply about these issues and profoundly,” and that “there’s a lot of news going on that matters also, so let’s get after that.”

“I just wanted to tell you that,” he added.

Cuomo proceeded to cover a range of topics unrelated to the head-spinning news cycle dogging his brother, including former President Trump’s CPAC speech, and Democrats potentially raising the minimum wage, and spent nearly five minutes toward the end of his show wishing fellow CNN anchor Don Lemon a happy birthday.In spring last year, during the dog days of the pandemic in New York City, Cuomo frequently invited his brother on his show during which they exchanged light-hearted banter, joking about who was their mother’s favorite and how big of a Q-tip Governor Cuomo would need for a coronavirus test.

Since then, Chris Cuomo appears to have opted only to air neutral or positive coverage of his brother on his show.