Chris Cuomo breaks silence
Admits advising brother to resign, “own what you did”
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo used his show late Monday to confirm that he had urged his brother Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to resign.
Chris Cuomo had come under fire for his network’s failure to cover the many controversies of the governor, including the use of state health department resources to provide preferential coronavirus testing last year to Chris Cuomo and other members of the governor’s family. The news anchor did not comment on the preferential testing, which included the use of state troopers and top health department officials.
“I’m not an adviser, I’m a brother,” Chris Cuomo said, after devoting most of his show to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. “I was there to listen and offer my take, and my advice to my brother was simple and consistent. Own what you did, tell people what you’ll do to be better, be contrite and finally, accept that it doesn’t matter what you intended, what matters is how your actions and words were perceived.”
Andrew Cuomo announced Aug. 10 that he would resign in two weeks — on Aug. 24 — in the wake of a state attorney general’s report that concluded he was a serial sexual harasser and had groped one of his executive assistants twice at the governor’s mansion in Albany.
The attorney general’s report noted that Chris Cuomo was part of a team of advisers both from within and outside of the Cuomo administration that discussed how to respond to the allegations publicly. The group included Andrew Cuomo, Secretary to the Governor Melissa Derosa, Richard Azzopardi and Peter Ajemian, who handled much of the governor’s interactions with reporters, and also former Secretary to the Governor Steve Cohen and Josh Vlasto, who had served previously as Cuomo’s communications director.
The report said that Jefrey Pollock, founder of public relations firm Global Strategy Group, and Chris Cuomo had counseled the governor to “express contrition” after published reports revealed the sexual harassment allegations against Andrew Cuomo that were made by the second woman to come forward publicly, former aide Charlotte Bennett.
“There are critics saying things about me, many unsupported, but know this, my position has never changed. I never misled anyone about the information I was delivering or not delivering on this program. I never attacked nor encouraged anyone to attack any woman who came forward,” Chris Cuomo said. “I never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation. I never influenced or attempted to control CNN’S coverage of my family. As you know, back in May when I was told to no longer communicate with my brother’s aides in group meetings, I stopped and I meant it.”
He added that it would be his “final word” on the matter and that “we have rules here at CNN that prevent me from reporting on my brother.”
Last year, Andrew Cuomo appeared on his brother’s show during the height of the pandemic and discussed New York’s response to the health crisis.