After he and fellow CNN host Don Lemon first claimed on Tuesday that rising murder and shooting rates in major U.S. cities were part of a fake news narrative by “the right-wing media machine,” Prime Time host Chris “Fredo” Cuomo had a change of mind Wednesday when he wanted to “drop some truth on their roof!” Fredo would admit that violent crimes were up, but insisted that it was not because of the left’s radical “defund the police” policy position; instead, reopening the economy was responsible.
“The number of homicides are spiking. Look at the data. New York, Chicago, Louisville, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Denver, Miami,” Cuomo finally admitted before chiding how, “the White House says it cares.”
After playing a soundbite of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany taking the White House press corps to task for not asking her questions about the violence, he mocked her as “Ms. I-Won't-Lie-to-You.” This from the guy who 24-hours ago was claiming the rising violent crime was a right-wing farce.
Shouting about how he was going to “drop some truth on their roof,” Cuomo went about trying to blame the rising crime on states reopening their economies, and not the radical leftist mobs causing chaos in the streets while calling for the police to be defunded and abolished:
The increases started in June. You say, “Ay, wasn’t that about the same time as the protests, all those calls to defund the police? That’s got to be the reason. See, you turn on the cops and the criminals run wild.” That's why she wants questions about it, to say that, right?
But what else started in June? Well, states started lifting stay-at-home orders then, didn't they?
Cuomo tried to argue rise was also due to the seasonal rise with the coming of summer. “Then, why in April and May, when businesses were closed and we were all forced to stay home, were homicides down? Also, homicide rates, as you may now, almost always spike in summer,” he said. But the facts prove his narrative was a lie.
According to reporting from Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW, “[T]he number of shootings and homicides are both up significantly over 2019 — and officers have since made thousands of arrests during displays of civic unrest following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.”
And, “although New Orleans was under lockdown for months, statistics show that homicides and gun violence increased during quarantine,” reported Fox 8 out of New Orleans. Reporter Tiffany Wong added: “The NOPD says shootings and homicides increased by 58 percent compared to the same timeframe last year.”
The New York Post noted last week that Democratic Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan blamed the radical Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone for “a staggering 525 percent spike in crime as a result of the violence that swept through” the area.
Even CNN has reported that New York City was seeing violent crime rise back in May, DURING the lockdown.
Lacking the self-awareness to realize that Democrats like his family have been in charge of states with cities like these for decades, Cuomo blasted President Trump for supposedly not caring about young black lives. “Six dead kids shot over the holiday weekend, all between the ages of 6 and 14. They weren’t targets. They were living in the wrong place at the wrong time like too many generations of kids before them,” he said.
Cuomo was striking that indignant tone, but on Monday, his good friend Don Don Lemon was yelling over actor Terry Crews about how Black Lives Matter didn’t need to care about the black lives taken by gun violence.
So, according to the media, the anti-cop mobs were not responsible for spikes in coronavirus cases and violent crime, the reopenings were. Talk about living in an alternate reality.
Cuomo’s deflection of who was to blame for the skyrocketing violent crime was sponsored by Progressive and Carvana.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime
July 8, 2020
9:26:53 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: The number of homicides are spiking. Look at the data. New York, Chicago, Louisville, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Denver, Miami. And the White House says it cares.
PRESS SEC. KAYLEIGH MCENANY: I didn't receive one question about New York City shootings doubling for the third straight week, and over the last seven days, shootings skyrocket by 142 percent. Not one question. [Transition] We need to be focused on securing our streets, making sure no lives are lost.
CUOMO: Now, they have offered no way to do those things. So, why do they care? Well, they care if they can blame it on their opponents. But let's see how Ms. I-Won't-Lie-to-You and the rest of team Trump feel after we drop some truth on their roof!
The increases started in June. You say, “Ay, wasn’t that about the same time as the protests, all those calls to defund the police? That’s got to be the reason. See, you turn on the cops and the criminals run wild.” That's why she wants questions about it, to say that, right?
But what else started in June? Well, states started lifting stay-at-home orders then, didn't they? Well, you don't know that that's what it was. Okay. Then, why in April and May, when businesses were closed and we were all forced to stay home, were homicides down? Also, homicide rates, as you may now, almost always spike in summer. Why? Kids are out of school, more people are out in general and in contact with each other. So more chances for beefs, good and bad. Added to a seasonal increase in drug consumption, and you get more of us at our worst.
But this here is unique. People are not out and about as much, or at least they shouldn't be. Another curveball. Homicides are up in 25 American cities, yes. But overall, crime is down. Why? We can't really know, because our federal government under Trump has not improved slow and incomplete reporting on such things.
But here's what we do know. During the pandemic, reports of domestic violence, spiking. Calls to mental health hotlines, same. Overdoses, same. All reasons to end the pandemic as soon as you can. You know, with a plan, Mr. Self-Appointed-Wartime-President. Or you can just go after the reasons that were here long before COVID and will remain long after if things stay the same. Entrenched poverty, a culture of exclusion that leads to crime and killing and tragic faces like these.
Six dead kids shot over the holiday weekend, all between the ages of 6 and 14. They weren’t targets. They were living in the wrong place at the wrong time like too many generations of kids before them.
Violent crime rates have been falling for decades. But that stat belies the reality that black lives just don't seem to matter as much. Black people are still ten times more likely to lose their life in a shooting than whites. Chicago had 1,200 extra officers patrolling the Fourth of July weekend. It's not enough. Why? Because cops can't change poverty, desperation that leads to crime and killing.
If your life seems to have few good options, legit legs up are few. College is a pipe dream. Good jobs seem to not exist. As KRS-One asked, for all poor black kids, “What the hell do you think they're supposed to do?”
(…)
