Chris Cuomo breaks his silence on allegations against his brother: ‘I’m aware but I can’t cover it’
The CNN anchor explains why his hands are tied when it comes to covering New York governor Andrew Cuomo's scandals
This week, a third woman came forward to accuse New York governor Andrew Cuomo of inappropriate behavior. Now his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has broken his silence about the allegations to his viewing audience.
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Monday, Cuomo opened up his show addressing the elephant in the room head on.
“Before we start tonight, let me say something that I am sure very obvious to you who watch my show, and thank you for that. You are straight with me. I will be straight with you,” he began. “Obviously, I am aware of what is going on with my brother, and obviously, I cannot cover it because he is my brother. Now of course CNN has to cover it. They have covered it extensively and they will continue to do so.”
To his point, the network has so far devoted eight segments to the allegations against Gov. Cuomo on Sunday; two on Saturday, and another two on Friday.
“I have always cared very deeply about these issues, and profoundly so. I just want to tell you that,” the anchor concluded before pivoting to the rest of the show, “There’s a lot of news that goes on also, so let’s get after that.”
Monday, The New York Times published a piece about the politician’s third accuser, Anna Ruch, who alleges an incident allegedly occurred at a wedding reception in Sept. 2019.
In the story, Ruch tells the publication that Cuomo, who she had never met, put his hand on her lower back, and when she removed it, he then put his hands on her face and asked her, “Can I kiss you?”
She told the newspaper that she was “confused and shocked and embarrassed” by the encounter, which a photographer captured. A friend who witnessed it corroborated her account. Ruch’s allegations follow those of two former state employees — Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett — who accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in the workplace.
As previously reported, Cuomo recently issued an apology for what he calls comments that may “have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.”
“At work, sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny,” Cuomo said in a statement issued in response to the claims. “I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good-natured way. I do it in public and in private. You have seen me do it at briefings hundreds of times. I have teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business.”
Cuomo, who is in his third term, is also dealing with another crisis in his administration as questions have arisen about his supervision of the movement of elderly people between hospitals and nursing homes in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James will be opening an independent investigation into his actions. However, calls from fellow Democrats have already started to come in for Cuomo to leave office.
“The time has come,” Rep. Kathleen Rice tweeted Monday night. “The Governor must resign.”
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