Late last June, CBS Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley acted like a schoolgirl by openly flirting with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) during an interview, gushing about him being an eligible bachelor. But on February 28, 2021, after The New York Times reported on a second former aide accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment, Pauley ignored the allegations completely. Meanwhile, inconsistencies abound in the reports from ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Sunday Today.
While Pauley was ignoring Cuomo’s scandals, she did have a report about alleged sexual harassment at McDonald’s. And although, Sunday Morning wasn’t a normal newscast – preferring to have long-form interest pieces – they did tend to have small news segments for important stories. Apparently, Cuomo’s alleged sexual misconduct didn’t meet their bar.
But on GMA, co-anchor Eva Pilgrim was obviously disappointed that they needed to report a negative story about Cuomo, the liberal media’s golden COVID cafe.
“Well, now to a report of a new sexual harassment allegation against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The New York Times saying a second former Cuomo aide has now come forward,” Pilgrim lamented as the story was handed off to correspondent Stephanie Ramos.
The new accusations were grosser than those of Lindsey Boylan, which ABC lied and mischaracterized as Cuomo joking around last week. “According to The New York Times, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett says Cuomo asked her questions sexual in nature last Spring, reportedly asking her whether she had monogamous relationships and if she ever had sex with older men,” Ramos reported.
Noting Cuomo’s defense, Ramos finally acknowledged that he was accused of giving Boylan an unwanted kiss:
In a statement Saturday, Cuomo denies the allegations, saying, he was “trying to be a mentor to her, adding, quote, I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate”.
This comes after Cuomo denied allegations from another former aide, Lindsay Boylan who detailed allegations of sexual harassment, including an unwanted kiss. Cuomo denying those allegations during a press conference in December.
At no point did Ramos explain why ABC never reported on the Boylan’s allegations back then.
Also, pay attention to Ramos’s first line quoting Cuomo’s defense against Bennett’s accusations. She recounted that Cuomo said he wanted to act like a mentor. But a key detail was omitted, which NBC included in theirs. Again, inconstancies abound between the reports.
In NBC’s segment, Blayne Alexander reported that Cuomo said this:
In a statement, the Governor while noting Bennett “has every right to speak out,” denies the allegations. “Ms. Bennett’s initial impression was right,” the statement reads, “I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.”
Alexander also noted that “Cuomo has asked for an independent review, which will be led by a former federal judge.” But it was Ramos who added the context of Democratic outrage to the conflict of interest.
“Governor Cuomo requested an outside review of the matter and is asking New Yorkers to await the findings before making any judgments,” Ramos said. “Some New York Democrats even saying the Governor should not be the one to appoint that investigator in that review.”
In closing out her report, Alexander lamented Cuomo’s fall from grace. Noting the “sharp turn from just months ago when Cuomo was widely praised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic,” she said the controversies were putting “his political future into question with Cuomo seeking a fourth term next year.”
CBS’s silence on Cuomo’s latest scandal and the inconsistencies between ABC and NBC were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from GEICO on ABC and NBC, and Pfizer on CBS. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
February 28, 2021
8:14:45 a.m. EasternEVA PILGRIM: Well, now to a report of a new sexual harassment allegation against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The New York Times saying a second former Cuomo aide has now come forward. ABC's Stephanie Ramos is here with the latest. Good morning to you, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE RAMOS: Eva, good morning. The three-term Governor was just facing criticism for the way his office reported nursing home deaths during the pandemic. Now, a second former aide is accusing Governor Cuomo of inappropriate conduct.
[Cuts to video]
This morning, a second former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is coming forward accusing him of sexual harassment. According to The New York Times, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett says Cuomo asked her questions sexual in nature last Spring, reportedly asking her whether she had monogamous relationships and if she ever had sex with older men.
According to the paper, Bennett told her parents and friends during that time. After an encounter in June, her friend asked her if Cuomo had been physical. The Times reporting Bennett responded via text message, “No, but it was like the most explicit it could be.” The paper also saying Bennett reported the encounter to Cuomo's chief of staff.
Bennett was reportedly transferred to another department until she left the administration altogether in November. The Governor's special counsel and senior advisers saying in a statement, “Ms. Bennett received the transfer she requested a position in which she expressed a long-standing interest and was thoroughly debriefed on the facts which did not include a claim of physical contact or inappropriate sexual conduct.”
In a statement Saturday, Cuomo denies the allegations, saying, he was “trying to be a mentor to her, adding, quote, I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate”.
This comes after Cuomo denied allegations from another former aide, Lindsay Boylan who detailed allegations of sexual harassment, including an unwanted kiss. Cuomo denying those allegations during a press conference in December.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): It's -- it's just not true.
RAMOS: Boylan reacting to the latest accuser, posting, “I am with you, Charlotte. We are with you. Always. You are not going to derail or destroy any more lives, Governor Cuomo.”
[Cuts back to live]
Charlotte Bennett says that she decided to make her allegations public in part because she wanted to counter the way Mr. Cuomo, quote, “wields his power.” Governor Cuomo requested an outside review of the matter and is asking New Yorkers to await the findings before making any judgments. Some New York Democrats even saying the Governor should not be the one to appoint that investigator in that review. Dan.
DAN HARRIS: Stephanie Ramos, thank you so much. More to come on this story, for sure.
NBC’s Sunday Today
February 28, 2021
8:10:22 a.m. EasternWILLIE GEIST: This morning a former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is accusing the Governor of sexual harassment. She’s the second former staffer to accuse Governor Cuomo of harassment this week. The Governor denies the allegations and is requesting an independent review. NBC's Blayne Alexander has details.
[Cuts to video]
BLAYNE ALEXANDER: This morning, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is once again on the defensive after a second woman has come forward accusing him of sexual harassment.
According to The New York Times, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett, a former Cuomo aide, says she became uncomfortable when the governor asked about romantic life, even enquiring whether she'd been with an older man. “I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and I felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett said, according to The Times.
In a statement, the Governor while noting Bennett “has every right to speak out,” denies the allegations. “Ms. Bennett’s initial impression was right,” the statement reads, “I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.”
Cuomo has asked for an independent review, which will be led by a former federal judge. It comes just days after another former employee, Lindsey Boylan, detailed what she calls “pervasive harassment” in an essay posted to Medium alleging the Governor asked her to play strip poker, and at one point in 2018 gave her an unsolicited kiss on the lips. Cuomo's office called those allegations “quite simply false.”
It's a sharp turn from just months ago when Cuomo was widely praised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. His daily briefings won an Emmy award and even inspired a book. But the latest harassment allegations are only the latest storm for the Democratic Governor, under fire for his handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.
All of it calling his political future into question with Cuomo seeking a fourth term next year. Blayne Alexander, NBC news.
[Cuts back to live]
GEIST: Blayne, thank you very much.
