CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was heavily criticized Tuesday after he said there was “no proof either way” that Sen. Kamala Harris, a 2020 contender, is eligible to be president.
Jacob Wohl, a prominent conspiracy theorist, argued on Twitter that Harris, who was born in Oakland, Calif., is ineligible to be president because of her immigrant parents and time she spent Canada as a child.
CNN contributor Ana Navarro responded to Wohl’s “birther” tweet, saying it had racist overtones because, like former President Barack Obama, whose citizenship was questioned when he ran for the White House, Harris is African-American.
“And hopefully there will be no games where the issue keeps changing for righty accusers…and…the legit info abt Harris comes out to deal with the allegation ASAP. The longer there is no proof either way, the deeper the effect,” Cuomo tweeted.
Cuomo was swiftly condemned for the comment on Harris’ eligibility. The tweet was “ratioed,” meaning the number of comments vastly outnumbered retweets and likes — a sign of widespread negative reaction.
“There’s no ‘both sides,’ there’s no lack of proof or competing facts, there’s no mystery about the ‘legit info.’ This is ridiculous — just like the birther smear was a decade ago,” Harris’ national press secretary Ian Sams said.
? She ? was ? born ? in ? OAKLAND ?
There’s no “both sides,” there’s no lack of proof or competing facts, there’s no mystery about the “legit info.” This is ridiculous — just like the birther smear was a decade ago. https://t.co/DRpbQHPsyO
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) January 22, 2019
Cuomo is aiding the birther 2.0 movement and Tapper is doing PR work for Scott Jennings. Is this an elaborate plot to make Cilizza seem like less of a dunce by comparison? https://t.co/HQppEewgM6
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) January 22, 2019
Jacob Wohl tweets that California-born Kamala Harris isn’t “eligible” to be President because…Jacob Wohl just feels that way & Christopher Cuomo replies Shut the fuck up, Wohl, oops, no, he says we must “deal with the allegation ASAP.” https://t.co/IuDW13WX6p
— James Urbaniak (@JamesUrbaniak) January 22, 2019
What bums me out the most is that Chris Cuomo is usually better than this. https://t.co/1CeDEMfa0b
— Marc Deschamps (@Marcdachamp) January 22, 2019
Is this a joke? Seriously? This is insane.
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) January 22, 2019
“no proof either way”?
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) January 22, 2019
In subsequent tweets, Cuomo clarified that he agreed Harris was born in Oakland and the burden of proof does not lie with her.
That bullshit. It is on the ACCUSER to prove what they say about Harris. Not on her. That’s my point. That’s the only point here. https://t.co/rIQb3t6afB
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 22, 2019
Agreed https://t.co/2Im016s3jK
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 22, 2019
He later deleted the comment and said it had been taken “the opposite way that I intended it.”
Deleted my original tweet because it was taken literally the opposite way that I intended it. Sen Harris has no duty to justify any such accusation, let alone a birtherism attack. You accuse, you prove. That was my point. Apologize for confusion.
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 22, 2019
