Don Lemon Slams Andrew Cuomo Over ‘Damning’ Report Immediately After Handoff With Chris Cuomo
Tuesday’s big news was the New York state attorney general’s office announcing it had concluded in a report that Gov. Andrew Cuomo engaged in sexual harassment that violated state and federal law. The governor denied wrongdoing in a video statement soon after the report was released.
But you wouldn’t know that by watching Cuomo Prime Time on CNN that night, unless you happened to catch the story on the news ticker as it scrolled by.
Chris Cuomo did mention some governors on his program, none of whom are his brother.
After his show, Cuomo handed it off to Don Lemon. They had a brief back and forth about the serious issue of mental trauma suffered by Capitol riot police officers, but made no mention of the 800-pound governor in the room.
“I love you, brother,” said Lemon, bidding Cuomo adieu for the evening.
“I love you D-Lemon,” he replied.
Seconds later, Lemon, like other CNN hosts had done throughout the day, began his show with the story about the attorney general’s report.
Lemon played a clip of President Joe Biden saying the governor should step down.
“So the question is, what happens now? Will Andrew Cuomo take a page out of the Trump playbook – the last thing you might have expected from him in the past — and just hunker down?”
Lemon then referred to Cuomo’s “tone-deaf” statement and said it “didn’t really help him.”
“I want you to know directly from me,” said Cuomo in the video, “that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. I am 63 years old. I have lived my entire adult life in public view. That is just not who I am, and that’s not who I have ever been.”
Lemon aired a response from Charlotte Bennett, one of Cuomo’s accusers, reacting to the governor’s statement.
“He sexually harassed me,” she told CBS. “I am not confused. It is not confusing. I am living in reality, and it’s sad to see that he’s not.”
Regarding the AG’s report, Lemon noted, “Interviews with 179 people, more than 74,000 documents and stories from women who say they were groped, grabbed, kissed.”
He proceeded to play a montage from that morning’s press conference by the attorney general’s office.
“Damning,” concluded Lemon. “Damning. And there’s always a tweet for everything. That we have learned lately, especially during the last administration. But this one now from the governor. This is from the governor who in 2013 in a tweet uncovered by CNN’s KFile said, ‘There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment and must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.'”
There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment & must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 17, 2013
Later in the show, Lemon returned to the subject for additional segments.
Watch above via CNN.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
