Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host who has encouraged vaccine card fraud and whitewashed the Capitol insurrection, praised CNN’s Chris Cuomo for his ethics breach on Tuesday. (Watch the video below.)
After CNN suspended Cuomo for using journalistic clout to help his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, battle sexual misconduct accusations, Carlson defended the “Cuomo Prime Time” host.
“Helping his brother is not the worst thing Chris Cuomo ever did,” Carlson said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “In fact it may have been the best thing he ever did. Not because Andrew Cuomo was a good person. He certainly wasn’t a good person. Andrew Cuomo was loathsome. But Andrew Cuomo was Chris Cuomo’s brother and that’s what you do with brothers, even the loathsome ones. You help them when they need it. Period.”
On Monday, the New York attorney general’s office released transcripts showing Chris Cuomo helped his embattled brother more than previously thought. Portions showed the “Cuomo Prime Time” host ― in exchanges with the governor’s aides ― pleading to help with “prep” after harassment allegations mounted against Andrew Cuomo. He also agreed to uncover details about one of the governor’s accusers and later texted that he had a “lead on the wedding girl.”
But Carlson seemed undeterred by the apparent moral sketchiness and railed against “left-wing media” for not understanding family loyalty.
“Your most basic obligation is to the people you are related to,” Carlson added. “When they need your help, no matter who they are ― even if you’re the governor of a state, even if they’re horrible people ― you help them anyway, because it’s your family. Chris Cuomo may be an idiot ― and he is ― but he understands that.”
Back in August, before Andrew Cuomo resigned, Carlson called Chris Cuomo’s behind-the-scenes involvement in his brother’s defense “understandable.”
On Tuesday, even Cuomo’s time-slot rival on Fox News, Sean Hannity, struck a compassionate note on the CNN host’s suspension and suggested he should get a second chance.
H/T Media Matters