OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A former host at CNN who worked with recently-fired host Chris Cuomo is speaking out after the bombshell news from the network over the week.
Cuomo was fired over the weekend after documents revealed he had assisted his brother Andrew Cuomo, who was serving as the governor of New York at the time, as he faced a slew of sexual harassment accusations that led to the governor’s resignation.
Thousands of pages of evidence released by New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that Chris Cuomo had been involved in speaking with then-Gov. Cuomo’s staff about helping him deal with the accusations against him.
Former CNN host Brooke Baldwin, who co-hosted CNN’s “New Day” with Chris Cuomo several years ago, shared a video to Twitter calling for the network to replace Cuomo with a woman.
“Just like so many of you I saw the news on Saturday about a sudden change in CNN primetime, and I have no comment on that decision,” Baldwin said, later adding that “what’s happening now creates this opportunity [for women], which is exactly what I was talking about. And so I’ll say it: I would like to see CNN put a woman in that 9 p.m. spot, not me, I’ve moved on, but there are plenty of brilliant women they can choose from.”
“The way we truly change the game for us is to put more women, brown, black, white women in positions of power,” Baldwin said. “And yes, of course, we need more seats at the table, but we also need to build a better, more inclusive table. And CNN primetime has been dominated by male hosts and y’all it’s nearly 2022. Wouldn’t you like to see a woman successfully lead in primetime?”
It didn’t take long for critics to lambaste Cuomo for helping his brother behind the scenes with advice on how to navigate the sexual harassment allegations against the governor.
The situation is so bad that several left-leaning journalists sounded off on Cuomo, questioning why he is still employed.
Below are some of the responses to the news:
David Harsanyi, National Review: “Chris Cuomo helped his brother cover up his role in the deaths of thousands of elderly NYers. And no one at CNN had a problem with it.”
Jesse Kelly, political commentator: “REMINDER: Andrew Cuomo (and now Chris Cuomo) only went down because DEMOCRATS decided to take them down. They were clearing out the governor’s mansion for other New York Democrats. The GOP would never have enough spine to actually take out an opponent like that.” He continued, “Also, the biggest loser in the Cuomo suspension is Don Lemon. He’s so talentless that Cuomo had to stay over and do the A block of his show with him every night. That’s the most important block in TV. Poor Lemon needed Daddy to hold his hand. Now, he’s alone.”
John Cardillo, political commentator: “Fredo finally got whacked.”
Grant Addison, The Washington Examiner: “Do that water-carrying, pilgarlic hack Stelter next.”
Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker: “Even if you think his personal behavior was bad, you have to admit that losing Cuomo is a blow to journalism that will take at least five seconds to recover from.”
Joe Concha, The Hill: “Chris Cuomo suspended indefinitely. Hard to see how the 9pm anchor returns given the overwhelming evidence of journalistic malfeasance. And if asking who the replacement will be at 9p, I have my money on Acosta. He’s exactly what CNN has become in terms of partisan pious snark.”
Caleb Hull, political strategist: “Never forget that Chris Cuomo left his house while he knew he had COVID-19 and got into a fight with a cyclist. Then he made a spectacle of when he ‘came out of quarantine’ after two weeks like he never left. CNN never fired him for this.”
Logan Hall, The Daily Caller: “cuomo suspension is small potatoes. call me when joy reid and the thousand other media goons worse than cuomo are unemployed.”
Kim Bellware, The Washington Post: “This Cuomo stuff is just so wild for those of us who know we could literally be fired for a mild-sauce tweet.”
Steve Krakauer, political commentator: “While announcing Chris Cuomo’s indefinite suspension, Anderson Cooper was sitting next to … Jeffrey Toobin, who returned in June from an indefinite suspension.”
Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post: “Fallout from Cuomo scandal has been wide: Chris Cuomo suspended at CNN. Alphonso David ousted as head of Human Rights Campaign. Tina Tchen out as CEO of Time’s Up, after Robbie Kaplan left board over it. Two other longtime Cuomo advisers out at Kivvit firm. And more…” He added, “As one longtime Cuomo person said to me last night: ‘It was such a dark and cynical place. I didn’t really realize that until I left.’”
