Maybe he’s embracing the only job he expects to keep.
Chris Cuomo on Tuesday used his SiriusXM show to speak about his brother’s resignation as governor of New York despite being banned from discussing it on CNN — which is weighing his future as a network host amid calls for his ouster.
The risky move came just one day after explosive documents released by state Attorney General Letitia James revealed how the star of “Cuomo Prime Time” secretly contacted news industry “sources” for advance information about the sexual harassment scandal that later forced Andrew Cuomo from office.
About 35 minutes into his two-hour SiriusXM show, Chris Cuomo went on a rant in which he blamed his brother’s disgraceful exit on vast conspiracy spanning both sides of the political spectrum and the news media, saying that “the game has rules.”
“And one of the general principles is you can fight against the other party, and you can fight against the media, but only if you have your party,” he said.
“Andrew had his party enforcing a rule…that if you have accusations, you have problems. And you don’t really get to vet the accusations and you don’t get to go against your accusers.”
Chris Cuomo added, “I did not want him to resign in the beginning because I believed him. And I thought that you don’t resign, you ask for due process and leave the women alone and let due process take care of the situation.”
“But eventually, when there wasn’t going to be due process, and his party was against him, and obviously the Republicans weren’t going to help him, then he had no choice because he couldn’t do the work of the state anymore,” he said.
Some of the remarks echoed those previously made by Andrew Cuomo, who quit in August facing all but sure impeachment after James issued a report that accused him of sexually harassing 11 women, including nine current or former state employees.
They also flew in the face of CNN’s statement in May that Chris Cuomo wasn’t covering Andrew Cuomo’s scandal for the network because “he could never be objective” and “often serves as a sounding board for his brother.”
Meanwhile, CNN employees told The Post that the network needed to finally fire Chris Cuomo, who’s repeatedly come under fire for advising his brother off-camera and stayed silent regarding Monday’s revelations during his show that night.
“How does he still have a job at the network? He’s not a journalist,” one staffer said.
“‘Cuomo Prime Time’ has the lowest ratings to date. The viewers no longer trust him. His reign at CNN has to end.”
Another said, “Chris Cuomo enabled a sexual predator, the former governor of New York. He needs to immediately resign or CNN must fire him.
“Does Chris Cuomo have any journalistic integrity? No.”
Elisa Batista of the women’s rights group UltraViolet also said Chris Cuomo “should be fired immediately” for “using his position at CNN to seek information on the accusers.”
“This a severe breach of journalistic ethics,” Batista said in a prepared statement.
“CNN should immediately sever ties with Chris Cuomo. Anything less is unacceptable, and further harms survivors of sexual abuse.”
CNN didn’t immediately return requests for comment, but on Monday said it was reviewing the documents released by James to determine “their significance as they relate to CNN.”
The network also said it expected to come to a decision within “the next several days.”
Additional reporting by Gabrielle Fonrouge
Published on: Article source
