Stephen A. Smith Feels Bad For CNN, Suggests They Rehire Chris Cuomo: ‘They’ve Had No One That Comes Remotely Close’

Stephen A. Smith expressed sadness over the departure of CNN’s CEO Christ Licht and strongly suggested the company re-hire fired anchor Chris Cuomo.

Cuomo was fired from CNN in 2021 by then-CNN President Jeff Zucker after various scandals including the anchor advising his brother, then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, through sexual harassment allegations and his own sexual misconduct allegation.

On the Thursday edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show podcast, Smith reacted to Licht’s departure which was prompted by a “series of severe missteps” according to CNN Business.

“The head of CNN, Chris Licht… stepped down as head at CNN, effective immediately, obviously pushed out by David Zaslav,” Smith said, referencing the chief executive of CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

“I feel bad, I’m not gonna lie. First things first. They’ve had no one that comes remotely close to replacing Chris Cuomo. I’m just gonna say that, I like Chris Cuomo, don’t know all the details. Not saying everything he did was right. Your brother’s running, your brother’s a governor. Obviously having some of the accusations thrown in his direction, could Chris Cuomo have handled it better? Sure,” Smith said.

Smith said he’s a fan of Cuomo and even had him on the podcast previously.

“I think the man is smart as hell. I think he’s tough as nails. I think whatever mistakes he’s made, he’s learned from them. He committed whatever mistakes he made in support of his big brother. Should have just recused himself in my estimation. Took a break from television and came back after helping your brother… I’m saying strictly as a television host and commentator, CNN has had no one in my estimation that remotely compares to Chris Cuomo,” Smith said.

“In a perfect world, I think they should go back and get him. That’s right. I said it,” Smith said.

Smith suggested that Cuomo’s new home, NewsNation, may have out-preformed CNN.

“We give everybody else second chances in this world, it seems. We don’t mind doing business with the Saudi Arabian government, even though we want to complain about human rights violations. We had a president in the White House that broke all kind of rules and regulations of decorum at the very least, one lawsuit after another. He’s still leading the polls for the Republican nomination,” Smith said, referencing former President Donald Trump.

“We can’t forgive Chris Cuomo? I think we should. I think if you’re CNN you damn well better. You damn well better because I don’t see anything that you have that’s gonna replace him. I’m just telling you,” Smith concluded.

Watch above via The Stephen A. Smith Show podcast.

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