CNN said on Wednesday it had reinstated a “rule” that prevents Chris Cuomo from “interviewing or covering for his brother” – after the host completely ignored the death coverup scandal at the health care facility that involved Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Last year, Chris Cuomo repeatedly interviewed his older brother about the coronavirus pandemic, engaging in often cranky pranks that initially helped increase the “Cuomo prime time” audience at 9pm.
But the controversy over the Cuomo government’s cover-up of death figures in nursing homes – revealed exclusively by The Post last week – was not mentioned in Chris’ hour-long program.
That’s despite coverage from other CNN programs, including Sunday’s State of the Union, in which host Jake Tapper criticized the March 25 directive that has since been rescinded by the state Department of Health for nursing homes to admit patients with COVID-19.
“So Governor Cuomo, who refused to appear on this program despite dozens of requests last year, including last week, made a wrong decision that could have cost lives,” said Tapper.
“And then your government hid this data from the public.”
On Monday, “Anderson Cooper 360” also dedicated a segment to Andrew Cuomo’s first press conference since the controversy began, including a reference to how some Democratic lawmakers want to strip him of his pandemic emergency powers.
He also made highly critical comments from the president of the state Republican Committee, Nick Langworthy, who said: “The seriousness of this cover-up cannot be overstated.”
“Andrew Cuomo should be prosecuted and Andrew Cuomo should be charged with impeachment if that evidence exists,” added Langworthy.
In a prepared statement, a CNN spokesman said: “The first months of the pandemic crisis were an extraordinary time. We felt that Chris talking to his brother about the challenges faced by millions of American families was of significant human interest. ”
“As a result, we made an exception to a rule that we have been in force since 2013 that prevents Chris from interviewing and covering his brother, and that rule remains in effect today. CNN covered the news about Governor Cuomo extensively, ”added the statement.
The network did not answer a question asked when Governor Cuomo was again banned from his brother’s program.
But in October, Chris Cuomo began a heated discussion on the air with Senator Ted Cruz of the Republican Texas Party over his older brother’s decision to prevent nursing homes from refusing coronavirus patients at the height of the pandemic.
“There is something disgusting that Democrats are doing, that [presidential candidate] Joe Biden does it and you do it, which is trying to blame people who lost their lives to their political enemies, ”said the Republican lawmaker, making his first appearance on Cuomo’s program. “It is not at all certain when his brother presided over the state with the highest mortality rate in the country.
“Was it a mistake when your brother implemented a policy that nursing homes had to accept COVID-positive patients and put the lives of tens of thousands of elderly people in New York at risk?”
Cuomo avoided giving a yes or no answer to the accusation.
“My brother was the first to say that there was a learning curve and that mistakes were made and that they changed things as soon as they could,” he said.
“So, nursing homes were the sum total of the whole problem in the country? Was that right? “Chris Cuomo – himself a coronavirus survivor – shot Cruz back.
“This caused New York to have 33,000 deaths compared to Texas with 15,000 deaths, and Texas has 50% more population than New York,” countered Cruz. “Tell your brother to take care of this.”