Brian Stelter Dismisses Criticism of Chris Cuomo, Zucker When Pressed by Meghan McCain: ‘Not for Me to Comment’

CNN’s Brian Stelter dismissed criticism of staffers at his network for behind-the-scene conduct that has included candid private calls with Michael Cohen , saying in an interview on The View that it was “not for me to comment.”

“There are some ethical questions that are being thrown around about CNN lately,” said cohost Meghan McCain. “There is 2016 audio of your president, Jeff Zucker, offering debate advice to President Trump that was released. Jake Tapper was recently caught, allegedly, trying to influence a congressional election. And I had serious problems with the way Chris Cuomo had a recurring primetime, sort of comic routine with his brother,” a reference to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). “Do you believe that this is acceptable?”

Stelter said those “storylines” had been “cherry-picked” from audio aired this month by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and noted Cohen’s claim that the tapes were held only by Trump, the Trump Organization, and the Department of Justice. “You have to wonder if it’s an example of this feedback loop that exists between Trump and Fox,” Stelter said.

“But, look, I’m not a spokesperson for … CNN,” he added. “It’s not for me to comment on these tapes. Here is what I think is sad, though. I think it’s sad that private conversations get leaked out, get distorted and then, you know, they become polarized and weaponized,” Stelter continued. “That’s the environment we’re in, and that’s sad. You know, if our text messages or if my phone calls with friends were suddenly taken out of context and distorted — let me put it this way, I think the Trump age has ruined a lot of friendships. I think that’s really sad.”

The audio footage Stelter referenced included a 2016 phone call between Zucker and Cohen — who was President Donald Trump’s personal attorney at the time — in which Zucker gave Cohen advice on how Trump should conduct himself at a Republican presidential debate. Cuomo called Cohen in 2018 — after the latter had been indicted on federal criminal charges and left Trump’s team — to coach him for an interview on the network. More recently, Tapper exchanged text messages with a Republican running for the U.S. House in Pennsylvania, Sean Parnell, to suggest that he run for a different seat.

Watch above, via The View.