A CNN guest on Sunday morning called out the network for having anchor Chris Cuomo conduct glowing, “love-a-thon” interviews with his now scandal-plagued brother Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple flipped the script when Brian Stelter, host of ‘Reliable Sources’, asked about ‘the media coverage’ about the Governor’s scandals ‘so far’.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention CNN’s massive media story here,” Wemple said.
“Chris Cuomo, the anchor at 9am, who covered Andrew Cuomo and had all these great love interviews with him – over 10 of them.”
“They have suspended the conflict of interest rule for Chris Cuomo for those interviews,” Wemple continued. “But all of a sudden they have enforced it again now that Andrew Cuomo was in the midst of a historic scandal at the Albany state house.”
“I think that’s a big black eye for CNN,” he concluded – before Stelter changed the subject.
CNN said last month that it has reinstated its “rule” preventing Chris Cuomo from interviewing or covering his brother, and reversed the policy after the governor made frequent appearances in 2020.
The TV host briefly addressed the charges against his brother that were on the air March 1.
“I’m clearly aware of what’s going on with my brother”, said the anchor at the top of his primetime show. “And of course I can’t cover it because he’s my brother.”
“Now CNN has to cover it, of course,” the host continued. “They’ve covered it extensively and will continue to do so.”
Cuomo, 63, has been accused of inappropriate behavior or comments from seven women in recent weeks, but has firmly denied doing anything inappropriate. He is also under fire for withholding data on COVID-19 deaths in public nursing homes.