Gov. Andrew Cuomo plays politics as coronavirus cases spike in US
Cuomo goes after red state governors over spikes in COVID-19 cases; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
There may be a lot of love between CNN anchor Chris Cuomo and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but there wasn't much love with cable news viewers.
"Cuomo Prime Time" came dead last on Wednesday's 9 p.m. time slot with just over 2 million viewers tuning in to the latest interview between the high-profile brothers, according to final Nielsen data. Meanwhile, "Hannity" drew more than double in the ratings, coming first in the timeslot with 4.37 million viewers and MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" came at a distant second place with 3.22 million viewers.
"Hannity" also dominated the time slot among the key demographic of adults age 25-54, reaching 691,000 viewers. CNN's Cuomo edged out MSNBC's Maddow with 480,000 and 456,000 respectively.
Several Fox News shows across time slots earned more viewers than CNN's often most-watched program, including "The Five," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "The Story with Martha MacCallum," "Tucker Carlson Tonight," and "The Ingraham Angle."
CNN'S CHRIS CUOMO BLASTED FOR DECLARING BROTHER 'BEST POLITICIAN IN THE COUNTRY' ON HIS SHOW
The “Cuomo Prime Time” host gushed over his older brother Wednesday, noting that the brotherly interviews “will never be seen as fair in people's eyes” but said CNN allows it because its an unusual time.
Cuomo then spoke about how proud their father, the late former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, was of his politician son.
"Everything that he had ever said about public service is what you demonstrated right here and right now during this period when your state needed it most," Cuomo told the governor. "I just hope that you recognize even what I'm able to recognize. ... I hope you are able to appreciate what you did in your state and what it means for the rest of the country now and what it will always mean for those who love and care about you the most."
He continued, "I'm wowed by what you did and more importantly, I'm wowed by how you did it. ... Obviously, I love you as a brother. Obviously, I'll never be objective. Obviously, I think you're the best politician in the country. But I hope you feel good about what you did for your people because I know they appreciate it. Nothing's perfect, you'll have your critics, but I've never seen anything like what you did and that's why I'm so happy to have had you on this show and I hope you know that."
The governor thanked the anchor for the "sweet talk," but not everyone approved.
“This is one of the most embarrassing and self-destructive things I've seen a news outlet do. I doubt even North Korean State TV would allow an anchor to "interview" his own brother and use their airwaves to declare him a Great and Noble Leader,” journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote. “Dynastic political power + StateTV.”
"This might be the most unethical thing put on news network in modern history," conservative commentator Stephen Miller reacted. "And they all know it. People like @jaketapper just turn the other cheek and play the part Jeff Zucker wants them to play. Pretend they aren’t a part of this."
CNN'S CHRIS CUOMO FINALLY ASKS BROTHER SOFTBALL QUESTION ABOUT NY NURSING HOME CONTROVERSY
"This is pure propaganda. NY did worse than any state in the country. It’s not even particularly close. And a big part of that can be traced directly to the policies of Andrew Cuomo," writer AG Hamilton tweeted.
"CNN is not a legitimate news organization. If you work there you should be embarrassed by this," Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross wrote.
Journalist Yashar Ali added, “This has been an issue for sometime now, but it's getting way out of hand. The Governor isn't facing a critical line of questioning . . . I don't blame Chris, that's his brother. But that's why he shouldn't have been allowed to go on his brother's show after the 1st or 2nd appearance.”
This marked Cuomo's eleventh interview with his high-profile brother since the coronavirus pandemic began and not once over the course of three months did he mention the growing nursing home controversy that had been dogging the New York governor. At least until this interview.
"Nursing homes. People died there, they didn't have to, it was mismanaged and the operators have been given immunity. What do you have to say about that?" the CNN anchor asked.
"Several statements that are not correct, but that's OK. It's your show, you say whatever you want to say," Gov. Cuomo jokingly reacted.
The governor called the nursing home deaths "the most tragic situation" and pointed to how there were nursing home deaths "all across the country" and said "we have to figure out how to do it better the next time" before the next virus wave occurs.
He claimed that New York was "one of the best cases in the nation" for deaths in nursing homes, citing an apparent report from The New York Times that showed the state was "35 out of 50" and his own study that ranked his state at "37," adding that "comparatively" his state did well.
The Democratic leader went on to acknowledge that "roughly 38 percent" of deaths in New York were senior citizens and said he was determined to figure out "how to do a better job" if the virus comes back.
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Roughly 7,900 people have either been confirmed or presumed dead from COVID-19 in nursing homes in New York, according to the state's health department. That equates to approximately 25 percent of all deaths in the state have occurred in nursing homes, per the latest state total from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
The "Cuomo Prime Time" host faced intense backlash last month for opting to do prop comedy with huge Q-tips with his brother instead of addressing the nursing home controversy.
All TV ratings information courtesy of final Nielsen data.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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