Chris Cuomo Erupts at Scott Atlas for Encouraging Large Thanksgiving Gatherings Amid Covid Spike: ‘What the Hell Are You Doing Here?!’
CNN’s Chris Cuomo fired back at Trump White House Covid adviser Scott Atlas, after the latter publicly encouraged family members to get together during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, despite the skyrocketing Covid rates and hospitalizations across the country.
Atlas’ comments came during an earlier appearance on Fox News on Monday night, when he all but urged elderly people — who are the most susceptible to dying from Covid-19 — to celebrate in person with their relatives. Saying it may be many people’s “final Thanksgiving,” Atlas, who is not an epidemiologist, angrily dismissed public health advice to isolate during this latest pandemic surge, saying: “What are we doing here?”
“What the hell are you doing here?!” a visibly upset Cuomo shot back, as the Atlas clip finished. “Yeah, it could be their last Thanksgiving if you expose them to people who aren’t wearing masks, who weren’t socially distancing, who haven’t been doing so, who haven’t been tested because they don’t want to get in on the con of Covid. You want to hide on state news, you do it. But some day, you are going to have to deal with real questions.”
Atlas’ incendiary comments came just hours after he had to walk back an exceedingly tone deaf post on Twitter, where he urged supporters to “rise up” against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has put in place increased restrictions to combat the coronavirus’ out-of-control spread in her state. Whitmer was infamously targeted in a kidnapping and murder plot last month by extremist militia members incensed by her previous lockdown orders.
Atlas’ latest round of embarrassing comment even prompted a very public distancing from Stanford University, which hosts the Hoover Institute where Atlas is a senior fellow.
In a series of tweet, the school emphasized it adheres to the scientifically-backed advice of public health experts, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, and made clear that Atlas has “expressed views that are inconsistent with the university’s approach in response to the pandemic.”
The university has been asked to comment on recent statements made by @ScottWAtlas, a senior fellow at the @HooverInst who is on leave of absence from that position. 1/3
— Stanford University (@Stanford) November 17, 2020
Stanford’s position on managing the pandemic in our community is clear. We support using masks, social distancing, and conducting surveillance and diagnostic testing. We also believe in the importance of strictly following the guidance of local and state health authorities. 2/3
— Stanford University (@Stanford) November 17, 2020
Dr. Atlas has expressed views that are inconsistent with the university’s approach in response to the pandemic. Dr. Atlas’s statements reflect his personal views, not those of the Hoover Institution or the university. 3/3
— Stanford University (@Stanford) November 17, 2020
Cuomo circled back to Atlas’ earlier tweet as he continued his scathing takedown.
“Maybe we will go back to old school and maybe the questions will come find you,” Cuomo said. “When you are living your life nice and easy because you don’t have the concerns for the people people you are telling to ‘rise up,’ that they have, maybe the questions will come find you because you have to answer for that kind of guidance. Let alone as a doctor. ‘Do no harm?’ ‘Invite grandma?’ ‘This could be her last Thanksgiving?’ Yeah, if you invite her to a place where she could get sick and die.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
