It’s seemingly become routine for CNN to test the boundary of journalistic ethics and have Prime Time host Chris Cuomo interview his older brother, the Democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo on his show. During Monday’s appearance, Chris (broadcasting from his basement) proved why he was the “Fredo” of the family when he tried and ultimately failed to egg Andrew into bashing President Trump and commit to, at least, be open to running for president “at some point.”
Early in the interview, Chris wanted to stoke harsh feeling between the two executive leaders and zeroed in on Trump suggesting some personal protection equipment (PPE) was “going out the backdoor” of hospitals:
CHRIS CUOMO: Now you said, “I don't know what he means.” You know what he means. He's saying that somebody is stealing this PPE stuff, or that something is being done with it that is wrong which is the implication is, “I'm doing the right thing. I'm getting them the right things in New York. I don't know what they're doing with them.” That's the implication. What's your response?
“My response is, first of all, if I say I don't know what he means, you can't tell me that, yes, I do know what he means,” the Governor scolded his little brother’s assertions.
Eventually, Andrew got around to saying that what Chris was suggesting was only what he “thought [Trump] meant.” “If you are right by what you thought he meant when he said ‘out the back door,’ as if it is being stolen or misused, if that's what he meant, then he should say that, ask for an investigation, and that's how you handle that. If that's what he meant, which is what you think he meant,” Andrew told his brother.
Moments later, Chris insisted that the President wanted to weaponize the Governor’s positive poll numbers to bash former Vice President Joe Biden, suggesting the latter would be a better candidate. “Let me ask you something. With all of this adulation you're getting for doing your job, are you thinking about running for president? Tell the audience,” Chris demanded.
Despite his brother repeatedly telling him “no,” Chris beclowned himself by nagging his brother on a presidential run “click expand”:
ANDREW: No. No.
CHRIS: No, you won't answer?
ANDREW: No. I answered. The answer is no.
CHRIS: No, you're not thinking about it?
ANDREW: Sometimes it's one word. I said no. No.
CHRIS: Have you thought about it?
ANDREW: No.
CHRIS: Are you open to thinking about it?
ANDREW: No.
CHRIS: Might you think about it at some point?
ANDREW: No.
CHRIS: How can you know what you might think about at some point right now?
ANDREW: Because I know what I might think about and what I won't think about. But you're a great interviewer, by the way.
After Fredo brought it back around to Trump “trying to play you against Biden,” Andrew hit back with: “That's your interpretation of what you think the President was saying.”
Now, it’s possible that Andrew did subscribe to the notions his younger brother was peddling, but had the maturity to know the middle of a crisis was no time for a political fight. Either way, you know you’re embarrassing yourself when your own liberal brother wasn’t willing to buy into your network’s narrative.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
March 30, 2020
9:06:25 p.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS CUOMO: The President said something today that I want your take on. The answer that you've given so far, you said you don't know what he means. But I want you to think about it a little bit more. Let's play the sound about what the President suggested might be happening with some of the equipment we are all desperate to find for our health care professionals.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: New York hospital is packed all the time. How do you go from 10 to 20 to 300,000 -- 10,000 to 20,000 masks to 300,000, even though this is different. Something is going on. And you ought to look into it as reporters. Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door? How do you go from 10,000 to 300,000? And we have that in a lot of different places. So, somebody should probably look into that.
C. CUOMO: Now you said, “I don't know what he means.” You know what he means. He's saying that somebody is stealing this PPE stuff, or that something is being done with it that is wrong which is the implication is, “I'm doing the right thing. I'm getting them the right things in New York. I don't know what they're doing with them.” That's the implication. What's your response?
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): My response is, first of all, if I say I don't know what he means, you can't tell me that, yes, I do know what he means. You might think --
C. CUOMO: Well, what do you think he could mean other than that?
A. CUOMO: He could mean-- I don't know. It's a very vague thing. It went out the back door. I don't know what that means.
C. CUOMO: What do you mean, “it when out the back door.” What is it a stray cat? It didn't go out the back door. He is saying somebody is taking some of this.
A. CUOMO: Maybe that's what he means, but I don't know. It's a very vague reference. You should ask the President.
(…)
If you are right by what you thought he meant when he said “out the back door,” as if it is being stolen or misused, if that's what he meant, then he should say that, ask for an investigation, and that's how you handle that. If that's what he meant, which is what you think he meant.
C. CUOMO: I don't know what else he could mean, but your point is taken. Which is, it's about the burn rate. He may not understand the facts yet. He may not want to accept it. It's a way of hedging against the need as great as it is.
But this is something that this president does. He's done it to you a few times. He goes back and forth about whether or not you're good or bad. Right now, you're good. Poll numbers came out. He's very responsive to poll numbers, and they say you're popular now because of how you're doing this. So, he weaponizes it and says, “you know what he should do, he should run for president, this guy, Cuomo. He'd be better than Biden, this guy Cuomo. But he'd beat him, too.”
Let me ask you something. With all of this adulation you're getting for doing your job, are you thinking about running for president? Tell the audience.
A. CUOMO: No. No.
C. CUOMO: No, you won't answer?
A. CUOMO: No. I answered. The answer is no.
C. CUOMO: No, you're not thinking about it?
A. CUOMO: Sometimes it's one word. I said no. No.
C. CUOMO: Have you thought about it?
A. CUOMO: No.
C. CUOMO: Are you open to thinking about it?
A. CUOMO: No.
C. CUOMO: Might you think about it at some point?
A. CUOMO: No.
C. CUOMO: How can you know what you might think about at some point right now?
A. CUOMO: Because I know what I might think about and what I won't think about. But you're a great interviewer, by the way.
C. CUOMO: Appreciate it. Learned from the best. The point is this --
A. CUOMO: Thank you.
C. CUOMO: What do you think of him trying to play you against Biden? That’s what going on here. He's trying to say Joe Biden is weak. “Look, even Cuomo is stronger than he is, and he's not even running.” What's your response?
A. CUOMO: Again, that's your interpretation of what you think the President was saying.
(…)
