CNN says it reinstated a ban on Chris Cuomo covering his brother

CNN claimed on Wednesday it reinstated a ‘rule’ that prevents Chris Cuomo from ‘questioning or covering up his brother’ – after the host completely ignored the nursing home death cover-up scandal that engulfed Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Last year, Chris Cuomo repeatedly asked his older brother about the coronavirus pandemic, indulging in the often cringey jokes that initially helped raise the odds for the 9 p.m. Cuomo Prime Time.

But the controversy over the Cuomo administration’s admitted cover-up of nursing home death figures – revealed exclusively by The Post last week – was not mentioned on Chris’ hour-long show.

This is despite coverage on other CNN shows, including Sunday’s “State of the Union,” on which host Jake Tapper criticized the Department of Health’s directive of March 25, which has since been canceled, for nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients.

“So Governor Cuomo, who declined to appear on this show despite dozens of requests over the past year, including last week, made a bad decision that could have cost lives,” Tapper said. .

“And then his administration hid this data from the public.”

On Monday, “Anderson Cooper 360” also devoted a segment to Andrew Cuomo’s first press conference since the controversy erupted, including a reference to how some Democratic lawmakers want to strip him of his emergency-related powers. to the pandemic.

It also included very critical remarks from the chairman of the state’s Republican Committee, Nick Langworthy, who said: “The seriousness of this cover-up cannot be overstated.

“Andrew Cuomo should be prosecuted and Andrew Cuomo should be arraigned if this evidence exists,” Langworthy added.

In a prepared statement, a CNN spokesperson said: “The first months of the pandemic crisis have been an extraordinary time. We felt that Chris speaking with his brother about the challenges millions of American families face was of great human interest.

“As a result, we made an exception to a rule we’ve had in place since 2013 that prevents Chris from interviewing and covering up his brother, and that rule remains in effect today. CNN has covered extensively on Governor Cuomo’s news, ”the statement added.

The network did not respond to a question asking when Governor Cuomo was banned from his brother’s show again.

But in October, Chris Cuomo had a heated argument on the air with Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz over his older brother’s decision to ban nursing homes from turning away coronavirus patients at the peak of the pandemic.

“There is something disgusting that Democrats are doing, [presidential candidate] Joe Biden does and you do, that is, you try to blame the people who lost their lives on your political enemies, ”said the Republican lawmaker, making his first appearance on the Cuomo show. “It’s especially not fair when your brother presided over the state with the highest death rate in the country.

“Was it a mistake when your brother implemented a policy that nursing homes had to accept COVID positive patients and put the lives of tens of thousands of seniors in New York State at risk? “

Cuomo avoided giving a yes or no answer to the accusation.

“My brother was the first to say that there was a learning curve and that mistakes had been made and that they had changed things as soon as they could,” he said.

“So the retirement homes were the sum total of the whole problem in the country?” That was it? Chris Cuomo – himself a coronavirus survivor – hit back at Cruz.

“This led to New York with 33,000 deaths versus 15,000 in Texas, and Texas has 50 percent more people than New York,” Cruz replied. “Tell your brother to get on it.”