Liberal CNN anchor Chris Cuomo took a shot at Republicans on Tuesday's New Day, as he touted the most recent poll results from his network that found poor approval numbers for congressional Republicans. When regular guest Margaret Hoover asserted that "there is Republican brand damage," Cuomo cracked, "Brain damage? What did you say?" [video below]
The anchor hyped the 28 percent approval rating for Republican leaders in Congress to Hoover. The liberal Republican consultant retorted that the number was double the previous low number of 13 percent. Cuomo shot back, "But bad is bad. Twenty-eight percent is bad. You have the Democrats – in '07, were forty-nine [percent]. Do you see that as a relevant comparison?"
Moments later, Hoover gave her "brand damage" answer, which the son of the former Democratic governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, took advantage of:
CHRIS CUOMO: ...Look at congressional numbers – Republican Congress now: 28 percent of what leaders in Congress-
[CNN Graphic: "April 16-19, CNN/ORC Poll: What Republican Leaders In Congress Have Done This Year; Approve, 28%; Disapprove, 67%; Sampling Error: +/- 3%"]
MARGARET HOOVER, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: It doubled- (laughs)
ALISYN CAMEROTA: (laughs) Good news! Margaret says good news here-
CUOMO: Democratic Congress in May – year '07 – was 49 percent-
JOHN AVLON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: There's a pony in here somewhere. There's a pony in here-
CUOMO: When you look at the Republican versus Democrat – that's what that poll number sets up-
HOOVER: No, no! But the last Republican Congress polling was 13 percent, Chris. They've truly doubled the number-
CUOMO: But bad is bad. Twenty-eight percent is bad. You have the Democrats – in '07, were forty-nine [percent]. Do you see that as a relevant comparison?
[CNN Graphic: "Good News For Obama, Good For Hillary?"]
HOOVER: Do I see Democrats in 07 were 49-
CUOMO: Get past your partisan jaundice, Hoover, and just take a look at the number-
HOOVER: But they – no, no, no! They – look, look, the country is more polarized. Look, the country is more polarized now, and that's what you see reflected in those numbers.
CAMEROTA: But what does this mean for the Republican candidates who are running?
CUOMO: Thank you, Alisyn-
CAMEROTA: You're welcome-
HOOVER: Yeah. There is – there is Republican brand damage. Republicans need to know, running into this-
CUOMO: Brain damage? What did you say?
HOOVER: Brand damage! Brand damage!
CUOMO: Brand damage – oh. You've got to be clear here, Margaret-
HOOVER: I just want to make sure all of our listeners know that you said brand damage-
CUOMO: I thought that was I heard from you, which I was very surprised.
[CNN Graphic: "CNN Poll: 67% Disapprove Of GOP-Led Congress"]
HOOVER: And Republicans have to know, this is a strong headwind. Nobody's signing up to be a Republican. Very few people are signing up to be Republicans right now. I mean, the tried and true people like me – you know, but we even know, if you're smart enough to know, you can't just run on being a Republican. You've got to be for ideas, and you got to appeal way more broadly.
