New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took time during his daily coronavirus press conference to praise his brother after CNN host Chris Cuomo tested positive for COVID-19.
Speaking Tuesday, Andrew Cuomo said that the coronavirus is “the great equalizer” and discussed his personal relationship with his brother.
“My brother Chris is positive for coronavirus, found out this morning,” the governor said. “Now, he is going to be fine. He’s young, in good shape, strong — not as strong as he thinks — but he will be fine.”
Cuomo said the world doesn’t really know his brother outside of his show on CNN. He described how their father, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, wasn’t always around given his political career.
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“You don’t really know Chris … you just see one dimension. You see a person in his job, and in his job, he’s combative and he’s argumentative and he’s pushing people,” Cuomo said. “But that’s his job, that’s really not who he is, he’s a really sweet, beautiful guy. He’s my best friend. My father was always working, so it was always just me and Chris.”
“He’s a lawyer also,” he added before describing how his brother never really wanted to go into law but was pushed into the trade by their father. “My father was a very strong personality, and my father basically suggested forcefully to Chris that he should be a lawyer. It was a different time and a different place.”
The governor pointed out that his own daughters now “follow their individual stars” and their own destinies, “which is right,” he added. “If you had said to my father, ‘I want to follow my individual star,’ he would say, ‘You can follow your individual star right out that door.’”
“So, Chris went to law school,” he continued. “God bless him, he quit the law firm, went to work for Fox TV, which is a whole separate conversation in the house, and then worked his way up. He’s at CNN. He does a beautiful job.”
“But a sweet guy. And now he’s quarantined in the basement, but he’s funny as heck. He says to me, ‘Even the dogs won’t come downstairs,’” Cuomo related with a laugh. “But he’s concerned about his wife and his kids.”
Chris Cuomo announced his diagnosis on Tuesday morning. He said that he is feeling well and would continue to broadcast his show from his home.
“I have been exposed to people in recent days who have subsequently tested positive and I had fever, chills, and shortness of breath,” the CNN anchor said in a statement. “I am quarantined in my basement … I will do my shows from here.”
Later in the day, Chris Cuomo discussed being diagnosed with the coronavirus on his Sirus XM show. He echoed his brother’s comments that the virus is “the great equalizer” and said he knew “it was only a matter of time” that he contracted the illness given the amount of time he spends around people.
He also quipped that his brother was beating him “over the head a little bit with it right now,” but said the focus should be on others’ suffering from the COVID-19 virus.
“I am not the story. There are people who are in rough shape because of this,” the CNN host said. “I’m pissed at myself about that, but that’s on me. That’s not on you. So, I appreciate all the well-wishing. Do not waste sympathy on me.”
