Chris Cuomo Gets in Tense Clash With GOP Rep. About QAnon: ‘You Put Both Arms Around Marjorie Taylor Greene’

Monday’s edition of Cuomo Primetime featured a long and at times tense exchange between Chris Cuomo and Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) about a CNN report detailing an unclassified report the FBI sent to lawmakers about QAnon conspiracy theorists. In it, the FBI suggests that some Q followers may “no longer ‘trust the plan'” and predictions of Q, who purports to have knowledge of a global pedophile ring being run by elites. As a result, the report said, some followers may violently attempt to bring about results.

Cuomo asked Stewart why he hasn’t denounced the claim that Donald Trump will be reinstated in as president in August.

“You could say, ‘Trump’s not getting reinstated. There is no congressional or constitutional mechanism for that. It will never happen. It shouldn’t be said. It shouldn’t be thought about.’ You could say that.”

Stewart replied that there are too many fringe claims to weigh in on.

STEWART: Well, I could. But there are all sorts of things out there that are ridiculous and–

CUOMO: But that is their big one. They’re waiting for it and Q keeps… moving the date, but you don’t weigh in because you say there are too many things to worry about.

STEWART: Look, I’m never going to weigh in on QAnon. I don’t care what they are. I don’t care what they say. They’re a small part of some society somewhere. They haven’t moved any political needle  here at all. And there are hundreds of groups just like them, and I don’t weigh in on them either. Why some of the media have taken QAnon and elevated them to this stature that they frankly don’t deserve at all–

Cuomo then interrupted to bring up Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who had previously expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, leading to this exchange:

CUOMO: We’ve elevated QAnon. You putting one of their members in your ranks and going after [Rep. Liz] Cheney more than you police her is a problem.

STEWART: Hey I’m happy to have that debate with you.

CUOMO: It’s not a debate, brother. You put both arms around Marjorie Taylor Greene and you brought her into your conference. That’s what you did.

STEWART: No, I didn’t. I didn’t vote for her in her district. The people in her district–

CUOMO: Did you vote to have her removed from the committees?

STEWART: I actually did.

CUOMO: Good. That’s a good thing for the audience to know.

STEWART: And the people, just like did I with some other members, including some other Republican members. I’ve been consistent on this. But you say I put my arms around her and embraced her. That’s not true at all. The voters in her district did. We’re troubled by some of the things she said. I feel the same way about her that I think the Democrats should feel about Ilhan Omar and some of the members of The Squad. There are members in Congress who say things that are frankly outrageous. They should be held accountable for those things. They don’t reflect the best heart and minds of the American people.

At the end of the show, Cuomo handed things off to Don Lemon, and during their exchange Cuomo fact checked Stewart’s claim.

“We’ve seen reporting that Utah’s all four of Utah’s members of Congress voted not to remove her,” said Cuomo. “I called the office, I asked for an answer, still waiting, but I don’t see any proof that Chris Stewart voted to remove her from the conference.”

Indeed, the Salt Lake Tribune reported in February that all four of Utah’s representative in Congress voted not to strip Greene of her committee assignments.

This post has been updated to include Cuomo’s fact check at the end of the show.

Watch above via CNN.