Mary Margaret Olohan
The women’s group UltraViolet called on CNN Thursday to suspend Chris Cuomo following reports that Cuomo advised his brother, the governor of New York, on how to respond to #METOO allegations.
The CNN host reportedly told Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that he should not resign from his position, the Washington Post reported, and allegedly cited “cancel culture” as a reason that Governor Cuomo should stand firm.
“Reports that Chris Cuomo not only joined strategy calls with his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to respond to the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him, but actively advised his brother to aggressively push back on the allegations, is deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable,” communications director at UltraViolet Bridget Todd said in a statement. UltraViolet has previously called on Andrew Cuomo to resign over the allegations.
“Make no mistake — this wasn’t just a brother talking to his brother about their lives, or even about politics,” Todd continued. “This was a major network news anchor advising the Governor of New York to actively push back against sexual harassment allegations and denegrate [sic] survivors of abuse by defining their calls for accountability as ‘cancel culture.’ The fact that after this advice, Governor Cuomo instructed surrogates to attack and defame those who courageously came forward with their stories should not be lost on anyone.”
The UltraViolet communications director said that this “raises serious questions about” how the CNN host covers sexual harassment allegations and how Cuomo’s “position at the network could potentially intimidate or silence other reporters who were looking into the story.”
“CNN should immediately suspend Chris Cuomo and conduct a thorough investigation into whether or not his position of authority at the network has impacted how others covered the allegations against his brother, Governor Cuomo,” Todd said. “Anything less is unacceptable, and further harms survivors of sexual abuse, who are already disinclined to come forward for fear of retaliation from men in power like the Cuomo brothers.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The embattled governor is being investigated by both the state attorney general’s office for allegations of workplace sexual misconduct and by the Department of Justice for his role in knowingly undercounting the deaths of New York nursing home patients. Andrew Cuomo has denied that he ever touched anyone inappropriately. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
Chris Cuomo apologized for advising his brother on his show Thursday night, reminding the audience that he didn’t cover the #METOO allegations against the governor, calling his actions a “mistake,” and emphasizing that he is “fiercely loyal” to his family.
“It’s not always easy,” Cuomo said. “People can say and write what they want, but I want you to know the truth. How I helped my brother also matters. When my brother’s situation became turbulent, being looped into calls with other friends of his and advisers, that did include some of his staff, I understand why that was a problem for CNN. It will not happen again.”
“This is no revelation,” the CNN host said of the reports that he advised his brother. “I have said it publicly and I certainly have never hidden it. I can be objective about just about any topic. But not about my family.”
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