We didn’t know much about the man who shot up a high-rise office building in midtown Manhattan Monday night, but NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo thought that he knew the reason why it happened. According to him, the source of blame was the culture perpetuated on social media where “political extremism” was reinforced with the perverse idea that the ends justified the means whether it be political or personal.
“We are under siege from political extremism,” Cuomo proclaimed near the top of the show. “Maybe he was mentally ill, maybe he wasn't; either way, the overwhelming probability is that he was somehow influenced by some kind of fundamentalist and then extremist activity off of that fundamentalist belief.”
Cuomo wanted people realize that the temperature of American discourse was too high and that it wasn’t something that always existed, and that social media was to blame. He also warned that people were too easily weaponized:
So, whether he was right in his head or sick or whatever analogy you want to use is relevant to me, because as long as we keep upping the stakes in the temperature and everything that so many people think don't matter. “It's just politics. It's just what we do. It's just how it is. It's always been this way.” No, it hasn't. Social media changed it. And we have so many people who are so freaked out and believing so many outrageous things, and saying and hearing so many outrageous things, and this keeps happening.
And I keep pointing it out and I keep making the same points. Because it's really easy to get a weapon in the society and it's really easy to get weaponized in this society. And we're going to see more and more of this.
He condemned how fast factions on social media were to pounce on what little was known and try to twist or elevate it for their advantage. “[I]t was immediately politicized! It was immediately weaponized! One side. The other. Brown guy. Israel. This. All these competing agendas. We have no idea why it happened,” he argued.
The criticism then pivoted to calling out how the left and the right were approaching those conversations on social media with “the most inflammatory talk”:
All we’re seeing is, whether it's MAGA on the right or whatever the populist movement on the left, its fringe, its outrage, it's “everything's okay in the interest of your legitimate grievance and you should want to own, destroy, devastate your opponent. They are an enemy. They are against you. Anything you can do to stop them by any means necessary. It's okay.” The most inflammatory talk. Everything's a threat. Nobody has any meaningful debate about anything. It's all owning. These stupid roundtable debates. We see what the kids were you just bring them on and they shouted each other and you're constantly trying expose who's more of an idiot. It's all extreme.
Cuomo did propose a solution: “you have to play to virtue if you want a virtuous society.”
“What does that mean? You've got to have ways of speaking to each other that are excepted and unacceptable and enforced as the same,” he said. “Punishing speech? No, not at all. But the same way that you crowd source consequences for cancel culture, you need to reward the right kinds of behavior.”
As for an effort to protect people, Cuomo scoffed, “And no, I don't believe the answer is good guys with guns because, you know, you have to be on your toes all the time and ready to be attacked all the time. And it's not how people live.”
You’re right, Chris, it’s not how people live. But you’re oh, so wrong. Those of us who conceal carry don’t anticipate an attacker at every moment, we don’t live on edge. The guns we carry are tools for use in the event of their need. Just because someone keeps a fire extinguisher in their kitchen or car isn’t them living fear of a fire at every second.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NewsNation’s Cuomo
July 28, 2025
11:01:50 p.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS CUOMO: We are under siege from political extremism. Maybe he was mentally ill, maybe he wasn't; either way, the overwhelming probability is that he was somehow influenced by some kind of fundamentalist and then extremist activity off of that fundamentalist belief.
So, whether he was right in his head or sick or whatever analogy you want to use is relevant to me, because as long as we keep upping the stakes in the temperature and everything that so many people think don't matter. “It's just politics. It's just what we do. It's just how it is. It's always been this way.” No, it hasn't. Social media changed it. And we have so many people who are so freaked out and believing so many outrageous things, and saying and hearing so many outrageous things, and this keeps happening.
And I keep pointing it out and I keep making the same points. Because it's really easy to get a weapon in the society and it's really easy to get weaponized in this society. And we're going to see more and more of this.
And no, I don't believe the answer is good guys with guns because, you know, you have to be on your toes all the time and ready to be attacked all the time. And it's not how people live. We may get there, but I don't know what's more frightening about it at this point, how easy it is for this to happen, how unsurprising it is, how wrong so much of the information was as this was unfolding. And the reason for how wrong it was, which is that it was immediately politicized! It was immediately weaponized! One side. The other. Brown guy. Israel. This. All these competing agendas. We have no idea why it happened.
And, you know, the drill, what they're asking, you know, they're going to find answers in a social media. He walked in with a vest on and a weapon out. This is called brandishing the weapon. This was obviously very intentional. And I'm sure he was not wanting to keep it secret. It is extremism on display and we will see more. But more importantly, we are noting seeing anything catalyzing, any impetus, anything developing in our society to counter it!
All we’re seeing is, whether it's MAGA on the right or whatever the populist movement on the left, its fringe, its outrage, it's “everything's okay in the interest of your legitimate grievance and you should want to own, destroy, devastate your opponent. They are an enemy. They are against you. Anything you can do to stop them by any means necessary. It's okay.” The most inflammatory talk. Everything's a threat. Nobody has any meaningful debate about anything. It's all owning. These stupid roundtable debates. We see what the kids were you just bring them on and they shouted each other and you're constantly trying expose who's more of an idiot. It's all extreme.
And this is going to keep happening until we collectively remember what we've always had to remember at different points in our civilization and the development of the same, which is, you have to play to virtue if you want a virtuous society. What does that mean? You've got to have ways of speaking to each other that are excepted and unacceptable and enforced as the same.
Punishing speech? No, not at all. But the same way that you crowd source consequences for cancel culture, you need to reward the right kinds of behavior. You need to shout down the wrong kinds of behavior. You need to dismiss people who are clearly just provocateurs. The idea that we live in a society where an Alex Jones has as much pull, if not more than a U.S. Senator is really F-ed up. It's really messed up when pod people who do nothing but outrage for profit mean as much as legitimate experts and thinkers and philosophers, you have a problem and your society. And that's where we are.
So, all we can do here at NewsNation is expose what's happening. I'll give you the information as it comes in.
(…)
