CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime was something a den for tinfoil hat conspiracy theories against President Trump and his administration. Host Chris “Fredo” Cuomo had overseen such classic segments such as Trump intentionally withheld coronavirus testing, and Trump was going to start a war to hamstring President-elect Biden. But during Monday’s edition of the program, Fredo launched a new nightly segment dedicated to tracking vaccine distribution because we couldn’t trust the administration.
After announcing the new segment, “Vacci-Nation,” Cuomo proclaimed “trust but verify” was not good enough with Trump. “Trust can only come after we verify. The hard truth is we’ve never done anything like this ever. And what a shame to have something that could make a difference and then it doesn't get where it needs to be,” he said.
Of course, Cuomo went on to speculate about whether or not the Trump administration knew where and how to get the vaccine to people:
The site of those first vaccines going into the arms of Americans, it's beautiful. It's beautiful, all right? More are heading to every corner of this land. But how much? Is it right? It is proportionate? Do some people get too much? And what about those that don't get enough? Is there any kind of sharing? How do you figure it out? Which communities is it going to? What type of people in those communities? Are we exacerbating problems of inequality here? See?
After shouting about how the media were “forced” to put up maps and graphics showing where cases were spiking, he blamed it on Trump. “We were forced to do that because we had this bizarro situation of the person at the top of the food chain telling you that we were lying about the urgency,” he sneered. “We’ve never had to deal with that either and hopefully we never have to again, ever. Ever.”
Then, despite admitting “we don't have enough information to make those kinds of graphs” for vaccine distribution, he took the Day-1 distribution numbers and extrapolated them to suggest there were shady “competing interests” redirecting vaccine shipments (Click “expand”):
In Ohio, hospitals in Columbus and in Cincinnati, those two cities got their first supply of 975 doses each this morning. Okay? Now, that's nothing. It is going to be something of the people who get it though, right? Those are two big population centers.
But it matters that Cleveland wasn't first. Why not? It's the biggest. Because they're seeing more hospitalizations than Cincinnati or Columbus. The good news, two hospitals in Cleveland are on the shortlist to get vaccines tomorrow. But see, that's what we have to analyze. If Cleveland seeing more cases of hospitalizations, why didn't they get it first? You see what I'm saying?
And it wasn’t just cities within Ohio that Cuomo was stoking conspiracies about, it was distribution between states too. “Illinois, the trend of new cases lower than Ohio. Got a lot more doses today. 43,000 arrived this morning compared to less than 2,000 in Ohio. Is that fair? Seems so. Does it play out that way? Are there competing interests? We’re going to investigate,” he promised.
As he was wrapping up, he announced there were already “cracks in the system” because “the Kaiser Foundation says just over half of states plan on having database systems described as comprehensive and reliable.” He used that as a springboard to harp on his other favorite conspiracy theory that Florida was hiding coronavirus data.
Of course, Fredo was making all these suggestions without a shred of evidence. Perhaps he should have waited to launch the segment for when he actually had something to report. But then again, this was the guy who seemed to feel that he needed to explain the segment title to his audience:
We are launching an important new segment here on PrimeTime. And I think I’m going to be doing it every night. Okay? We're calling it “Vacci-Nation.” You know the way we do “Ameri-Can?” It’s vaccination, but Vacci-Nation. Right? Cause it’s all over the nation. That’s the idea I want in your head about this. Okay?
Thanks, Chris. The pun was so high-minded that no one would have been able to figure it out without your merciful guidance. This is CNN.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime
December 14, 2020
9:29:03 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: All right. Now look, I know it seems like we're a little obsessive about this. I am. Okay? And I'll tell you why. The vaccine is an extraordinary struck of good fortune for us. We should’ve never had it this fast. Operation Warp Speed, they're going to write books and probably make movies about it because we don't even understand how they made it happen this fast. I'm not questioning the safety. The data is what it is. But how do you keep track of all these things?
They say people aren't going to want to take this. I think we will have the opposite problem. And because of that -- it is not a problem. It is a challenge. It is good people want to be protected if it’s safe.
We are launching an important new segment here on PrimeTime. And I think I’m going to be doing it every night. Okay? We're calling it “Vacci-Nation.” You know the way we do “Ameri-Can?” It’s vaccination, but Vacci-Nation. Right? Cause it’s all over the nation. That’s the idea I want in your head about this. Okay?
It can't be trust but verify with this. Trust can only come after we verify. The hard truth is we’ve never done anything like this ever. And what a shame to have something that could make a difference and then it doesn't get where it needs to be.
The site of those first vaccines going into the arms of Americans, it's beautiful. It's beautiful, all right? More are heading to every corner of this land. But how much? Is it right? It is proportionate? Do some people get too much? And what about those that don't get enough? Is there any kind of sharing? How do you figure it out? Which communities is it going to? What type of people in those communities? Are we exacerbating problems of inequality here? See?
(…)
Compare it to the flu, all right? This season 194 to 198 million doses of the flu vaccine were expected in the United States. Go back to Polio. It took three years to get 100 million Americans the vaccine. We're better now. But how much? The only way forward is something we’ve not seen enough from too many who sit in places of leadership. Transparency.
(…)
We were forced to do that because we had this bizarro situation of the person at the top of the food chain telling you that we were lying about the urgency. We’ve never had to deal with that either and hopefully we never have to again, ever. Ever.
The bottom line is we don't have enough information to make those kinds of graphs yet. But we will. Okay? We're going to need it. Information about where the vaccine is and where it isn't and in what percentages is going to be more important than it was with cases.
Why? Because you weren't worried that there weren't enough cases in your area. You will be worried there isn't enough vaccine. People will start to see the changes in communities because of the vaccine. They're going to want it.
(…)
But you're going to want to know where it is. And you are going to know why you don't have it. And you’re going to want to know why some people were you live have it and you don't. You’re going to want to know. All right? And it’s our job to help you know.
So, here's what we know tonight, okay? In Ohio, hospitals in Columbus and in Cincinnati, those two cities got their first supply of 975 doses each this morning. Okay? Now, that's nothing. It is going to be something of the people who get it though, right? Those are two big population centers.
But it matters that Cleveland wasn't first. Why not? It's the biggest. Because they're seeing more hospitalizations than Cincinnati or Columbus. The good news, two hospitals in Cleveland are on the short list to get vaccines tomorrow. But see, that's what we have to analyze. If Cleveland seeing more cases of hospitalizations, why didn't they get it first? You see what I'm saying?
That's the question that is relevant. And we could not follow up and go ask. That's exactly what the hell we're going to do.
Illinois, the trend of new cases lower than Ohio. Got a lot more doses today. 43,000 arrived this morning compared to less than 2,000 in Ohio. Is that fair? Seems so. Does it play out that way? Are there competing interests? We’re going to investigate.
Right now on day one, it is too early to say what's behind that discrepancy other than what I just told you. But we have to be able to track it every day. We have to be able to chase things down.
The problem is there is no national system. There is no big brother watching this. There is no better mind. There is no better answer. There is no don't worry they know. There is no "They." We, the interconnection, you coming online telling me what you heard, having us track it down, we rely on this being done piecemeal state by state and them being honest.
We're already seeing cracks in the system. The Kaiser Foundation says just over half of states plan on having database systems described as comprehensive and reliable. Why would you want to hide data on this? Think about a good reason and then think of Florida. Okay? And everything we're learning about Florida and cases. Nobody wants to hide data for good reason. Not like this.
(…)
