Back from the dead and starved for brains, disgraced former CNN host Chris “Fredo” Cuomo would be getting a second chance at hosting a primetime cable news show on NewsNation. The move was announced on Tuesday night’s edition of Dan Abrams Live on NewsNation where Cuomo suggested he was “going to try very hard to be fair,” wasn’t out to “hurt anybody,” nor “play gotcha.” Off to a dishonest start.
The move, which will likely cripple NewsNation’s credibility as an honest news source, came after a lengthy and pressing interview between Abrams and Cuomo, with the former being an admitted long-time friend of the latter.
“So, we've asked Chris Cuomo the tougher questions. We've talked to him about his new podcast, The Chris Cuomo Project. But there's something else big and I mean, big on the horizon for Chris Cuomo,” Abrams teased.
After first praising his friend for the interview, Cuomo declared: “I want to help. I want to find a way to help people. I'm going to come to NewsNation. And I want to build something special here. Work with Dan, work with the team here. They've got great people. We're really hungry to make a difference in ways that I think matter.”
Cuomo suggested that the reason he didn’t want to go back to one of the larger news networks was that “I can't go back to what people see is ‘the big game.’” “I think we need insurgent media. I think we need outlets that aren’t fringe and just trying to fill their pockets,” he said.
But in reality, it’s likely because he’s radioactive so no other network would touch him, and NewsNation is small/desperate enough to take the risk.
“I'm going to do the job, I'm going to go where the news is and I'm going to try very hard to be fair,” Cuomo added.
Describing how his show was going to be run, Cuomo gave a false analysis of how he’s conducted his shows in the past:
But my shtick is having no shtick. My shtick is I'm going to ask you these questions. I love confrontation. I love friction. And I think that I can be helpful in those moments because I'm not here to hurt anybody. I'm not here to take anybody down. I don't play gotcha. I'm not here to dig into your past as a way of somehow compromising your present when it's not relevant. That's not what I do. It's not what I've ever done.
And for his part, Abrams touted his friend as having his finger on the pulse of “the majority of Americans”:
CUOMO: And I really believe that this outlet has a chance to reach who I call free agents. Not right, not left, reasonable, regular, open mind, open heart, willing to listen when someone disagrees—
ABRAMS: Where the majority of Americans are. I mean, that's the craziness. And I talk about this on the show all the time. The vast majority of us don't want the extremes. We want this the right-of-center and the left-of-center, folks. We want – And you talked about this on your podcast – people who call themselves independents.
Cuomo says he’s not here to hurt people but he’s willing to threaten to throw Trump supporters down a flight of stairs, claims protests don’t have to be peaceful, and has backed the leftist domestic terrorist group Antifa.
Does NewsNation know what they bargained for?
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live
July 26, 2022
9:53:55 p.m. EasternDAN ABRAMS: All right. So, we've asked Chris Cuomo the tougher questions. We've talked to him about his new podcast, The Chris Cuomo Project. But there's something else big and I mean, big on the horizon for Chris Cuomo.
Mr. Cuomo, let you do the honors of telling us what is next in your TV career?
CHRIS CUOMO: Well, you are part of my decision. I respect that you ask the questions. I think that's how you show respect to our relationship is that you didn't fake the funk. You ask what needs to be asked. I respect you for that. I respect how you do the job. I've been jealous of you while I have been away watching.
And I want to help. I want to find a way to help people. I'm going to come to NewsNation. And I want to build something special here. Work with Dan, work with the team here. They've got great people. We're really hungry to make a difference in ways that I think matter.
I have decided that I can't go back to what people see is “the big game.” I don't think I can make a difference there. I think we need insurgent media. I think we need outlets that aren’t fringe and just trying to fill their pockets. “Don't listen to anybody else only listen to me.” Don't trust that when you hear it.
I'm going to do the job, I'm going to go where the news is and I'm going to try very hard to be fair. And I want to do it here. I want to make a difference. And I'm really hoping that it makes a difference for you. And I thank NewsNation very much for the opportunity.
ABRAMS: So, Chris is going to be hosting a primetime show here that will begin in the fall. And I am thrilled to hear it. When I first heard that they were talking you, I was saying, “Boy, that would be that would be a great, great get.”
CUOMO: You being here matters to me. Seeing what the place is about, getting to understand the management and what they want and why they're doing this matters to me. And I really believe that this outlet has a chance to reach who I call free agents. Not right, not left, reasonable, regular, open mind, open heart, willing to listen when someone disagrees—
ABRAMS: Where the majority of Americans are. I mean, that's the craziness. And I talk about this on the show all the time. The vast majority of us don't want the extremes. We want this the right-of-center and the left-of-center, folks. We want – And you talked about this on your podcast – people who call themselves independents. But in many ways, what they're saying is I don’t want to be associated with those other parties.
CUOMO: But you have to – Look the beauty of this and the timing of it is that we need this right now because this binary system is killing us. And the media's trapped in it very often. Right? You can't be criticizing the game that you are part of. And nobody watches a game for the referee. Okay?
And that's what it is. There are opposing parties. The reason it gets more and more talk because that's the easy way.
Why would you waste time? Trying to figure out how to get people to like you when you can just get them to not like me. And that's what our politics is becoming increasingly.
(…)
9:58:07 p.m. Eastern
ABRAMS: You mention transparency before you're going to be more transparent do you think on this show about your own personal views than you have in the past?
CUOMO: Look, I'd like to say yes, because it's a good sell, but I've always been that way. I really don't fake the funk. I mean, you know, people who know me. The only difference is that I just curse a lot more off TV than I do on it. And I watch my mouth. My kids don't like it. So, all be – I’ll clean it up.
But my shtick is having no shtick. My shtick is I'm going to ask you these questions. I love confrontation. I love friction. And I think that I can be helpful in those moment because I'm not here to hurt anybody. I'm not here to take anybody down. I don't play gotcha. I'm not here to dig into your past as a way of somehow compromising your present when it's not relevant. That's not what I do. It's not what I've ever done.
(…)
