Kayleigh McEnany rips Chris Cuomo for benefitting off of brothers prioritized COVID tests
Kalyeigh McEnany criticizes Chris Cuomo for allegedly turning to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo to receive a priority COVID test in the early days of the pandemic.
Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday that President Trump prioritized Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, while CNN's Chris Cuomo reportedly received special treatment from his brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the form of a prioritized COVID test last year.
During an appearance on "Fox & Friends," McEnany said that the Trump administration’s coronavirus press briefings were constantly compared, as a benchmark, to "wonder boy" Andrew Cuomo’s own briefings. Yet, at the same time, unbeknownst to the American public, the NY governor was allegedly embroiled in a nursing home scandal that killed thousands and was reportedly giving out "preferential treatment" to his own family.
"This is amazing," McEnany said, adding that people are now realizing what was happening "behind the scenes" in Cuomo's administration.
McEnany described the prioritized COVID test given to Chris Cuomo, which was difficult to acquire at that point of the pandemic, as further evidence of Cuomo utilizing his position of power to advance himself and his family's own interests over the people of New York. She said former President Trump did not want to get a coronavirus vaccine before Americans were able to start getting the shot.
McEnany, a Fox News analyst, also took aim at CNN for defending anchor Chris Cuomo.
"No one wanted to watch the Cuomo comedy hour and now no one wants to watch Cuomo in the evening primetime hour," McEnany said regarding Chris Cuomo's recent drop in ratings.
In a statement, CNN Head of Strategic Communications, Matt Dornic, said that it was "not surprising," that Chris Cuomo "turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance as any human being would."
"Basically, when it’s going well for Governor Cuomo or [CNN] perceives it to be going well for him he’s permitted on his brother's program," McEnany retorted. "But, the moment it turns south, the moment he’s in the middle of a MeToo scandal, a nursing home scandal, a vaccine scandal, a testing scandal, they say no coverage of Governor Cuomo on the part of Chris Cuomo."
CNN has so far skipped mentioning the latest developments involving the governor and their star anchor.
The Albany-based Times Union newspaper reported late Wednesday that "high-level members" of New York's Department of Health were directed by Andrew Cuomo and state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to "conduct prioritized coronavirus testing on the governor's relatives as well as influential people with ties to the administration."
"Members of Cuomo's family including his brother, his mother and at least one of his sisters were also tested by top health department officials — some several times, the sources said," according to the Times Union.
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Chris Cuomo anchor was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 31. As the paper noted, the diagnosis came "at a time when many members of the public struggled to obtain coronavirus tests."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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