In another universe, one where the fatally incompetent Andrew Cuomo was actually investigated by the media rather than lionized by it, the brothers Cuomo show on CNN could almost be cute. In times as trying as a pandemic, a few extra minutes of lighthearted family feuding isn’t terribly unwelcome. That is, until it becomes an extension of industrywide propagandizing to pretend that the New York governor did a halfway decent job instead of actively causing thousands of preventable deaths by forcing nursing homes to readmit patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The jig is up, and as the public watches what had been branded “human sacrifice” in Florida and Georgia actually result in a decline of coronavirus cases and deaths, New York’s death toll becomes even more impossible not to attribute to an abdication of leadership. Perhaps the Cuomo brothers high jinks would be merely farcical if Chris Cuomo didn’t have the backing of his network to gaslight the public into believing that he hadn’t violated quarantine while infected with the virus. But now it’s an insult, one that CNN contributor Ana Navarro attempted to defend but was heartily rebutted by Janice Dean.
One guy faked his own quarantine. The other guy let recovering Covid patients back into nursing homes which ultimately I believe killed one or both of my in-laws. If this clown show happened on Fox, you’d be raging. Sit down, please.
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) May 21, 2020
Navarro, a former “Republican strategist,” decided to respond to Dean with what wasn’t quite condolences to her family but a snide jab at Fox News, where Dean works as the resident meteorologist, and then general rudeness.
1. I don’t know you, but feel great sympathy for all the families like yours, who have lost loved ones to Covid. Must be so sad.
2. If this had happened on Fox News, I would not have seen it.
3. I don’t need your permission to stand-up, speak-up or act-up.
4. Have a nice day. https://t.co/35bRM09JOx
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) May 21, 2020
This is how Navarro decided to respond to Dean’s reminder that she didn’t exactly address that Andrew Cuomo is likely responsible for more U.S. coronavirus deaths than anyone else alive and that Chris Cuomo put people in danger by violating quarantine while pontificating about it to the public.
Bless her heart.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) May 21, 2020
There has been no public apology from Navarro or anyone else at CNN.
Mind you, this isn’t just CNN’s resident mean girl blowing smoke at some member of the Trump campaign team for choosing to criticize the Cuomos because it’s a day that ends in “Y.” Dean is largely apolitical, but more than that, her reputation precedes her as one of the nicest people in cable news. She’s been criticizing Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home handling with increasing fervor as it becomes abundantly clear that the press is happy to give him a pass, and still, Navarro treated her as though she made some shallow political dig for personal gain.
There’s not much more to extrapolate here other than the fact that even as every other news network tries to dial down the partisanship as it relates to the coronavirus, Jeff Zucker has been happy to let CNN turn into reality TV. The only difference between the host of Reliable Sources gleefully sharing first-person diatribes by credibly accused predator and former Zucker staffer Matt Lauer and the Kardashians is that Kim Kardashian West at least influences policy in the White House.
To truly understand the disgracefulness of Navarro’s schtick, just watch Dean’s Thursday night exchange with Tucker Carlson. Only that can illustrate just how much CNN pays to protect its performance art masquerading as news.
Video: @JaniceDean is the best. Her strength and poise were inspiring. She spoke with #Tucker tonight about her late in-laws and the NY nursing home scandal that far too many corners of the news media have ignored in favor of hero worship for the Cuomo administration pic.twitter.com/ofLdCMq3JF
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 22, 2020
