Tucker Carlson offered up a spirited defense of his arch-rival, fellow cable news host Chris Cuomo who has ‘gone on vacation’ following sex pest claims made against his brother, New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo.
Speaking during his Fox News show on Monday night, Carlson, who called the governor ‘a weirdo, a butt-rubber, a terrible governor’ decided to halt criticism and instead focus on the Andrew Cuomo’s brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo.
‘Tonight, we want to pause from piling on Andrew Cuomo, which we’ll be happy to resume tomorrow, and take a moment to defend the chief bodybuilding correspondent over at CNN who is his brother,’ Carlson began, before playing a clip of CNN host Brian Stelter explaining Chris Cuomo’s absence from viewers’ screens this week.
Cuomo is taking a vacation to celebrate his birthday week. Cuomo, who turned 51 on Monday always takes the week of his birthday off work.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson stood up for Chris Cuomo on Monday night
Carlson said it was ‘understandable’ Chris Cuomo, right, would advise his brother Andrew, left, over the New York Governor’s sexual harassment scandal
‘Some critics say he should have been suspended or even fired. But I’m going to level with you. Telling a well off host to hang out by the pool for a couple of weeks is not a real punishment,’ Stelter explained. ‘It’s BS when Fox sends a host off on vacation during a scandal. Scolding a host in public, saying what they did was inappropriate. That is an actual punishment.’
Carlson resumed: ‘To paraphrase Sigmund Freud, sometimes a vacation is just a vacation, and we’re willing to believe that Chris Cuomo’s vacation is just a vacation.’
But then in what may have shocked some loyal Fox viewers, Carlson, without a hint of irony, offered his support towards Chris Cuomo saying that loyalty to his family must come first.
‘One, you’re not responsible for the misbehavior of your relatives. Sorry. You didn’t choose them. In fact, you’re not responsible for anyone else’s misbehavior. Only your own. That’s just true. It’s the basis of American justice and it’s the basis of human decency. Don’t blame people for things they didn’t do,’ Carlson said.
Without a hint of irony, Carlson bluntly stated: ‘loyalty should be to your family above all else’
Chris Cuomo (right) was previously branded a hypocrite after he repeatedly had Andrew (left) on his show at the height of the COVID crisis, when the governor’s handling of the crisis was initially praised
‘And the other point to make is, Chris Cuomo’s coming under a lot of fire for helping his brother in the middle of this crisis. Now, we can’t evaluate how true that is. But if it is true, let’s be real for a second. It’s understandable. It’s his brother.
‘Your loyalty should be to your family above all else. Not joking at all. Maybe even above your job. Maybe even above [CNN President] Jeff Zucker.
‘If your brother calls and says, “I need help,” if you don’t give him help because you’re pretending to be a news anchor on some stupid cable channel nobody watches, you’re betraying your brother, and that’s a greater sin than any of the dumb politics they espouse on that channel. Totally true. So, we’re not gonna criticize him for that.’
In May of this year, Chris Cuomo had come in for criticism having taken part in strategy sessions with his brother on how to response to the allegations of sexual harassment.
In May of this year, Chris Cuomo had come in for criticism having taken part in strategy sessions with his brother on how to response to the allegations of sexual harassment. At the time, CNN President Jeff Zucker, pictured, called such participation ‘a mistake’
At the time, CNN President Jeff Zucker called such participation ‘a mistake.’
Last year, Andrew Cuomo regularly appeared on his brother Chris’s show, where he was lavished with praise over New York’s handling of the COVID crisis.
His silence on the sex pest scandal – which reached boiling point after New York’s Attorney General said it believed the governor’s 11 accusers last week – has further fueled allegations of hypocrisy.
In one interview from 2020, Chris reportedly told Andrew he was ‘the best politician in the country’.
MSNBC’s Laura Bassett called Chris out in a recent op-ed saying: ‘Both brothers need to go. It’s extremely inappropriate and unethical for a journalist to advise and craft the statements of a politician, regardless of family relation.
‘New Yorkers deserve better than a lying, harassing, misogynistic creep presiding over the state. And CNN’s viewers deserve better than a news anchor who is working on behalf of a politician he covers and helps to manipulate public opinion of him.’
Bassett accused both Cuomo brothers of having ‘amassed massive power and influence, while betraying public trust’.
Andrew Cuomo (pictured) has denied having ever ‘touched anyone inappropriately’ and suggested the AG’s investigation was politically motivated
Last week New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report accusing Andrew Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women. Nine of the accusers are either current of former state employees.
Two more women approached the New York state Attorney General’s Office on Monday evening reporting further allegations of sexual harassment against the governor.
Cuomo has not been seen in public since James’ report was released last Tuesday.
The governor released a pre-recorded video statement where he denied having ever ‘touched anyone inappropriately’ suggesting James’ investigation had been politically motivated.
On Sunday, it was reported that Cuomo and his aides had been trying to cut a deal with his party whereby he would not run for a fourth term as governor next week, in return for avoiding an impeachment trial. Those talks appear to have foundered, with the governor’s top aide Melissa DeRosa announcing her resignation Sunday.
The New York State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee Charles Lavine said on Monday that the committee would hold two executive sessions to discuss its ongoing impeachment inquiry of Cuomo on August 16 and August 23, followed by at least two public hearings, where experts will be called to testify on sexual assault and harassment and the impeachment process itself.