‘Way Too Much of a Conflict’: Kara Swisher Confronts Chris Cuomo on Advising His Brother While at CNN

Kara Swisher put Chris Cuomo in the hot seat over the controversy of advising his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), on a sexual harassment scandal while serving as a CNN anchor.

Cuomo — who was fired from CNN and is set to start a new gig as a NewNation host — spoke to Swisher on the first episode of her new podcast. They discussed Cuomo’s ouster, his thoughts about his old network, and his plans for the future.

The discussion, which was published Monday, did not have an easy lift-off. Swisher first asked Cuomo to talk about the “problematic” aspect of his lighthearted interviews with his brother during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The hindsight 2020 for me is that if I had known that a grudge would be harbored,” Cuomo said. “Because if we’re giving a fair reckoning, not many people spoke up loudly in the media about disapproving of my brother being on during that time. They did so later. And I think that is something that needs to be owned as well. The reason that they didn’t come out in the moment was because it was very popular and powerful.”

Throughout the conversation, Cuomo defended his interviews with his brother while dismissing critics who argued they represented a conflict of interest.

Cuomo claimed there was “complete transparency” and his interviews with his brother were “the right call” in the context of the times, but he also curiously admitted they should have been considered a conflict “ab initio” — from the beginning.

From the podcast, via New York Magazine:

“I got to tell you I really thought that those were news interviews and that you were not doing your job the way you do it with everybody else. I don’t want to disrespect you, but I think you may have been partial to Andrew Cuomo in those interviews.” I’ve never had a regular person say that.

What they’ve said is: “I really appreciated the connection between brothers who were in different aspects of the same dynamic and how you were there for each other.” And that’s what they took from it. And I’ll tell you what Kara, I’m not a big fan of myself but I’ve won a lot of awards in journalism, just about all the ones that they offer on a major level for television journalism. I’ve never been thanked for any work that I’ve done the way I was for those interviews.

Did I think that they should be considered a conflict of interest? Ab initio, inherently all day long. But there was complete transparency.

Swisher eventually brought up the sexual harassment allegations against the governor that cost Andrew his job. She also noted how Cuomo got wrapped up in the scandal by partaking in strategy sessions and advising the governor on how to respond to the allegations.

That led to this exchange:

Cuomo: What’s the difference between helping him personally and strategically?

Swisher: Oh, Chris, come on. I hope you’re okay. I would not have given him any advice, especially media advice. I wouldn’t have helped him with anything, practically anything.

Cuomo: Why not?

Swisher: It’s way too much of a conflict, a potential conflict of interest.

Cuomo: But you’re not covering it.

Swisher: Well, he was a national figure and you had already made him more of a national figure.

Cuomo: But I wasn’t covering his allegations.

Swisher: You’re covering the country and also you need to tell the listeners.

Cuomo: Covering the country [Laughs].

Swisher: You’re covering the country. Come on. It was a national news show.

Cuomo: I told the audience, Kara –

Swisher: You told the audience you were advising your brother.

Cuomo: I’m helping my brother.

Swisher: You’re helping him.

Cuomo: Yeah. I was advising him. I was helping him in ways that I thought were reasonable.

Cuomo has insisted in the past that CNN’s leaders knew he was advising his brother throughout the scandal. Regarding his apology to CNN for the controversy he caused, Cuomo said he offered that to his colleagues “because I was told by my bosses that people at work felt that I had compromised their ability to do their job.”

Cuomo said:

I did not know that. I did not feel that. But being told that, I absolutely never intended that. And if I had known going into it that me disclosing to my audience that I’m not going to cover my brother and he is my brother so I want to help him to the extent that I can, would’ve compromised CNN, I may have made different decisions. But I had no reason to believe that. And that’s why I apologized because the idea of compromising anybody else wasn’t my intention. And I’m very sorry if that were the case.