Chris Cuomo criticized for hypocrisy after he says he won’t cover brother’s controversy

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was widely criticized for hypocrisy on social media Monday after telling his viewers that he can’t report on the sexual allegations facing his brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) despite appearances on the show during the height of the pandemic last year. 

“Before we start tonight, let me say something that I am sure is very obvious to you who watch my show,”  Cuomo said at the start of “Cuomo Prime Time.” “Obviously, I am aware of what is going on with my brother. And obviously I cannot cover it because he is my brother.”

The governor, whose visibility catapulted him to the national stage during the early weeks of the pandemic when New York was one of the U.S’s early hot spots, was often a guest on Cuomo’s show.

But the disparity between those appearances, and Chris Cuomo’s new stance Monday amid his brother’s controversy over sexual harassment allegations, was pointed out by many on social media.

The statement comes as three women in the past week alleged the governor made unwanted sexual advances toward them. It also comes during a separate investigation into of the governor’s handling of New York nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“That makes sense,” tweeted New York Times White House correspondent Annie Karni. “What never made sense to me was Chris Cuomo covering him when things were going well for Andrew Cuomo.”

That makes sense.

What never made sense to me was Chris Cuomo covering him when things were going well for Andrew Cuomo. https://t.co/qzk0qrQZeE

— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) March 2, 2021

“Yeah obviously he can’t cover his brother,” posted Matt Berman, Buzzfeed’s political editor.

yeah obviously he can’t cover his brother https://t.co/Xrqv8ZvjLo https://t.co/WR8WYkUHTx

— Matt Berman (@Mr_Berman) March 2, 2021

“Why did this logic not obtain during the pandemic?” asked podcaster and former Fox and NBC anchor Megyn Kelly. “Was Andrew not Chris’s brother then?”

“Chris Cuomo says he can’t cover accusations vs Andrew Cuomo, ‘bc he is my brother.’ Q for Cuomo (& for Brian Stelter, who is selectively interested in media ethics): Why did this logic not obtain during the pandemic? Was Andrew not Chris’s brother then?” https://t.co/aKZ2ixBPU2

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 2, 2021

Monday’s announcement was not the first time CNN has banned Cuomo on Cuomo reporting. In a column last April, the New York Times reported that in 2013, network executives ordered Chris Cuomo not to report on his brother.

But as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed across the New York metropolitan area last spring, and Andrew Cuomo’s press briefings on the pandemic began to garner national attention, the network relented, allowing the two siblings to discuss the state’s fight against the virus.