CNN host Chris Cuomo delivered a speech about morality in the age of COVID-19 without mentioning the controversy he was roped into last week involving his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and preferred testing early in the pandemic.
During the first four minutes of his show, Cuomo Prime Time, the host began by mentioning “rebirth and renewal” this Easter and Passover season before preaching about the “right way” to live during the coronavirus pandemic as well as assessing the first day of the murder trial for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd.
Cuomo, who was off the air last week for pre-scheduled vacation time, spoke about how people are failing to live up to the “pledge of allegiance to the collective,” referring to those who are taking a more lax stance on social distancing and other measures meant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“Too many refuse to live the right way, with masks and with restraint, to hold back the variants. As a result, all of us are suffering,” he said before alluding to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky citing a sense of “impending doom” as rates of new cases and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus climb again.
“‘But the vaccine,’ people say. Yes, the vaccine. It matters. But it has always been about time. This tension between vaccine and variants,” Cuomo said. “The numbers tell the story. We have less than 20% of us fully immunized. We need to live right. Otherwise, the variants are going to make people sick, hospitalized sick, dead from being sick. How many before we can get people vaccinated?”
CNN HOST CHRIS CUOMO OFF AIR AS HE GETS ROPED INTO BROTHER’S LATEST CONTROVERSY
“You heard the president today: 90% of adults in America will be eligible to get a shot by three weeks from now,” he added. “The question is, how many will we let get sick? How many will die when we are so close and as a function of our own choices? It depends on the question of allegiance. How much do you care about other people?”
He said that same question “plagues us on the justice front as well,” referring to Chauvin’s trial before critiquing the prosecution and the defense.
Cuomo did not mention reports over the past week that said his brother Gov. Cuomo’s administration arranged special access to government-run coronavirus testing early in the pandemic, including for the CNN host and his family at their Hamptons home.
Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, characterized the allegations of preferential treatment as “insincere efforts to rewrite the past.”
Chris Cuomo announced he contracted COVID-19 on March 31 of last year, after which he began broadcasting his CNN program from his home. His wife and son then contracted the virus in April. The host faced backlash that same month for airing the “very moment” he “emerged” from his basement quarantine after he was spotted in public.
Here’s the very moment @ChrisCuomo emerged from his basement, where he’s been riding out coronavirus for the last several weeks. pic.twitter.com/tugkXCGZD7
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 21, 2020
Asked to respond to the reports about prioritized testing on Wednesday, a representative for CNN said Chris Cuomo’s actions were “not surprising” given the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees. However, it is not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would,” Matt Dornic, head of strategic communications for CNN, said in an email to the Washington Examiner.
Gov. Cuomo is facing multiple investigations for his handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic and for allegations of sexual misconduct by several women. The Democratic governor has denied any inappropriate behavior, although he apologized for making anyone feel uncomfortable, and refuses to resign under bipartisan pressure.
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During the height of the pandemic, Chris Cuomo repeatedly interviewed his brother on his show, even admitting during one airing of Cuomo Prime Time last July that he’ll “never be objective” when covering the New York governor. His show’s ratings have been down in recent months compared to its 2020 numbers, according to a Fox News report last week.
CNN has since banned the younger Cuomo from covering his brother, with Chris Cuomo saying he “obviously … cannot cover” the allegations against Andrew Cuomo.
