Tucker Carlson (Sorta) Defends CNN’s Chris Cuomo Amid Brother’s Sexual Harassment Scandal

Tucker Carlson appeared to offer a defense of CNN’s Chris Cuomo in the wake of a report last week that concluded his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, engaged in sexual harassment against multiple women. That report was released last Tuesday, and although CNN has covered the matter extensively, Chris did not mention it at all during the week.

The CNN host is taking what he has said is a preplanned vacation this week. Cuomo, who turned 51 on Monday, said he always takes his birthday week off. In May, he faced heavy criticism for participating in strategy sessions with his brother on how to respond to the allegations. CNN President Jeff Zucker called that participation a “mistake.”

On Monday night, Carlson called the governor “a weirdo, a butt-rubber, a terrible governor” before pivoting to his cable news host brother to seemingly defend him.

“Tonight, we want to pause from piling on Andrew Cuomo,” said the Fox News host, “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 addressed Cuomo’s vacation and played a clip of CNN’s Brian Stelter saying, “It’s B.S. when Fox sends a host off on ‘vacation’ during a scandal.” Stelter then claimed Cuomo had faced “an actual punishment” after the network acknowledged the conversations between the brothers were “inappropriate.”

“Can that kid be real?” Carlson incredulously asked. “He’s gotta be a plant from MSNBC.”

Carlson added, “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.”

He then then offered his (sorta) defense of Cuomo “in total sincerity,” despite the fact that a caricature of Cuomo, Stelter, and Don Lemon in a fishing boat appeared on the screen:

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.

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 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.

“One more piece of advice, Chris Cuomo,” said Carlson, “Take a break from the curls on vacation. You’ll enjoy it better.”

Watch above via Fox News.