In an epic, must-watch takedown during Monday’s Cuomo PrimeTime, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh called out and embarrassed Chris “Fredo” Cuomo for his repeated flouting of coronavirus safely protocols, and how he and brother (Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo) had made a mockery of the COVID testing with their prop comedy.
During their heated argument, where Cuomo claimed President Trump had done nothing for states battling the virus, Murtaugh called out his host for his repeated refusal to abide by coronavirus safety measures, including not wearing a mask in his apartment building, getting caught breaking quarantine, and faking the official release from his basement:
MURTAUGH: We know, listen. We now you broke quarantine --
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine.
MURTAUGH: -- and went to the Hamptons? Everyone knows you broke it.
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine.
MURTAUGH: You deny that that happened?
CUOMO: I never—Absolutely, 100 percent.
MURTAUGH: And then you came home and you pretended to rise up from your basement like Lazarus, even though you have already broken quarantine while you COVID-positive.
“I’m pointing out that you broke quarantine and went out to a place in the Hamptons while you were COVID-positive,” Murtaugh added.
Despite Fredo’s denials on CNN, his great escape was well documented by news outlets and included an eyewitness who filed a police report after Fredo accosted him. He even admitted to the run-in with the “jackass loser fat-tire biker” on his SiriusXM radio show.
Earlier in the interview, Murtaugh reminded CNN viewers that Andrew had once praised Trump for getting him the assistance New York needed, including the USNS Comfort which they didn’t really use.
“No. He said I went to the federal government. They helped me with things. They did not help me with everything. They're still not helping. Go ahead. My brother what? Keep talking about him,” Cuomo antagonized, yelling over his guest, and growing more enraged.
In another devastating moment for Fredo, Murtaugh held up an image of when the “Cuomo Brothers Comedy Hour” made a mockery of coronavirus testing. The image featured Fredo whipping out a ridiculously-sized cotton swab to poke fun at the size of his brother’s nose (Click “expand”):
So listen, Chris, I find it curious, speaking of your brother, you’re going to ask me these self-righteous questions and talk about people taking it seriously. [Pulls up image of Chris holding a giant cotton swab] Does this look like the couple of guys taking it seriously?
You had your brother on for the Cuomo Brothers Comedy Hour joking about the size of the Q-tip that you would need for his nose to get a test.
(…)
Does this sound like somebody who’s taking it very seriously?
Fredo defended his antics by declaring them “funny as hell.”
“Now, you took your swing. It missed,” he proclaimed. Fredo then argued that what they did was fine because they were bringing humor to the public. “Now, let’s discuss. That's the best you got, is that my brother didn't take COVID seriously? Are you kidding yourself, that I made fun with him at a time of such acute distress,” the clown said.
Murtaugh then confronted Chris about his brother’s nursing home deaths scandal. Chris denied that Andrew had packed COVID patients into nursing homes (something NBC reported on). And Murtaugh blasted Andrew’s failed leadership (click “expand”):
MURTAUGH: Well, I mean, have you asked your brother about sending COVID-positive patients into nursing homes?
CUOMO: First of all, he never sent any, and you know that. You know that New York state is 46th out of 50th. But here is what you know most of all --
MURTAUGH: He just wrote a book about leadership, though.
CUOMO: I know.
MURTAUGH: I thought that means taking responsible.
CUOMO: You should read it, brother. And let me tell you why. You won't even talk about the President. You want to talk about my brother because you are coming from a place of weakness. You are in the middle of a pandemic--
MURTAUGH: No. I want to talk about people turning COVID and the coronavirus crisis into a political weapon. Which is what CNN does all day long.
After a June 24 interview with his brother, Fredo admitted that he wouldn’t seriously address the blood on his brother’s hands and that he wasn’t “objective” when it came to reporting on his family.
It was the reality check someone desperately needed to deliver right to Fredo’s face.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime
October 26, 2020
9:44:56 p.m. Eastern(…)
TIM MURTAUGH: Your own brother, the governor of New York, said that every time he turned to the administration, the federal government was there with everything that he needed and everything he asked for.
CHRIS CUOMO: He did not say that. And that is not what happened.
MURTAUGH: Yes, he absolutely did.
CUOMO No. He said I went to the federal government. They helped me with things. They did not help me with everything. They're still not helping. Go ahead. My brother what? Keep talking about him.
MURTAUGH: Your brother predicted a ventilator shortage. He said he needed 40,000 ventilators or people would die. That shortage never materialized.
CUOMO: True.
MURTAUGH: Because the President engaged the private sector and the government to create the equipment, the PPE, the gowns, the gloves, and the ventilators we need.
So listen, Chris, I find it curious, speaking of your brother, you’re going to ask me these self-righteous questions and talk about people taking it seriously. [Pulls up image of Chris holding a giant cotton swab] Does this look like the couple of guys taking it seriously?
You had your brother on for the Cuomo Brothers Comedy Hour joking about the size of the Q-tip that you would need for his nose to get a test.
CUOMO: It was funny as hell.
MURTAUGH: Does this sound like somebody who’s taking it very seriously?
CUOMO: Tim, let me tell you something.
MURTAUGH: This President has done this every step of the way and he has done everything that states have asked him.
CUOMO: Tim. Tim, I got you. Tim. All right, let's deal with that. That's not true. And you know it but you decided to say what you want to say--
MURTAUGH: It absolutely is true. He said a hospital ship in New York that they really didn't adequately use.
CUOMO [yelling over Murtaugh]: They didn't need it and thank god they didn't need it. Tim, listen, you are not going to flood the zone on this show. Tim, I'm telling you. I will cut you off. You are not going to flood the zone on this show.
Now, you took your swing. It missed. Now, let’s discuss. That's the best you got, is that my brother didn't take COVID seriously? Are you kidding yourself, that I made fun with him at a time of such acute distress.
MURTAUGH: Well, I mean, have you asked your brother about sending COVID-positive patients into nursing homes?
CUOMO: First of all, he never sent any, and you know that. You know that New York state is 46th out of 50th. But here is what you know most of all --
MURTAUGH: He just wrote a book about leadership, though.
CUOMO: I know.
MURTAUGH: I thought that means taking responsible.
CUOMO: You should read it, brother. And let me tell you why. You won't even talk about the President. You want to talk about my brother because you are coming from a place of weakness. You are in the middle of a pandemic--
MURTAUGH: No. I want to talk about people turning COVID and the coronavirus crisis into a political weapon. Which is what CNN does all day long.
(…)
9:49:31 p.m. Eastern
CUOMO: No, I'm about a president sending the right message. I'm about a president sending the right message and giving states what they need to fight a pandemic.
MURTAUGH: Then why did you get reprimanded by your own apartment building. Chris.
CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing.
MURTAUGH: Why did you get reprimanded –
CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing.
MURTAUGH: -- from your apartment building for failing to wear a mask –
CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing.
MURTAUGH: --after having been told before?
CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing. Why won’t the President adjust his messaging?
MURTAUGH: We know, listen. We now you broke quarantine --
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine.
MURTAUGH: -- and went to the Hamptons? Everyone knows you broke it.
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine.
MURTAUGH: You deny that that happened?
CUOMO: I never—Absolutely, 100 percent.
MURTAUGH: And then you came home and you pretended to rise up from your basement like Lazarus, even though you have already broken quarantine while you COVID-positive.
CUOMO: Listen, you want to mock my getting sick -- you want to mock my getting sick, you can.
MURTAUGH: I'm not mocking you getting sick.
CUOMO: Of course, you are. Of course, you are.
MURTAUGH: I’m pointing out that you broke quarantine and went out to a place in the Hamptons while you were COVID-positive.
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine and you know it. I never did.
MURTAUGH: Now you're going to lecture me about who obeys what rules?
(…)