Saturday, February 13, 2021

CNN and the dangerous distortion of truth while New Yorkers died

‘What CNN has been doing for the past year on New York's coronavirus response has been a hoax,” Curtis Houck said

CNN was blasted as "an abject disgrace to both the journalism profession and America writ large" in the wake of an aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitting the state withheld COVID-19 nursing home death data after months of glowing coverage from the disgraced network.

Gov. Cuomo’s little brother, Chris, hosts "Cuomo Prime Time" on CNN, regularly providing a platform last year for the governor to appeal to viewers by conducting playful on-air conversations masquerading as interviews amid the nursing home scandal.

"[CNN pundit] Brian Stelter's book may have been called Hoax, but what CNN has been doing for the past year on New York's coronavirus response has been a hoax and an abject disgrace to both the journalism profession and America writ large," NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck told Fox News.CNN did not immediately respond to a series of questions, including whether or not it regrets previous interviews between the Cuomo siblings and if the network will allow Chris to cover his brother going forward after the latest embarrassing revelations

The scandal started when Gov. Cuomo infamously ordered nursing homes in the Empire State to accept patients who had, or were suspected of having, COVID-19 in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo, who his younger brother sometimes adoringly refers to as the "Love Gov," eventually reversed the decision – but thousands had died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes before Cuomo reversed course.  

But the scandal that CNN’s most popular host largely avoided took another turn on Thursday when a top Cuomo aide told leading state Democratic lawmakers that the administration had withheld data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes to avoid federal scrutiny, according to a bombshell New York Post report.

Cuomo's show and CNN's primetime hours did not mention the new developments on Thursday night.

CNN’s cozy treatment of the governor helped make him a darling of the left during the early stages of the pandemic. CNN set the tone, as hosts who aren’t even related to Gov. Cuomo regularly lavished praise upon his leadership. CNN’s Brian Stelter once declared, "He’s proving hope, but not false hope," and said he would teach his children to follow in the governor’s footsteps.

Cuomo has made regular appearances on his kid brother’s CNN program, "Cuomo Prime Time." The siblings began their widely panned series of interviews that typically avoided significant issues bubbling up throughout the Empire State in favor of criticism of then-President Trump and the federal response.


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