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Chris Cuomo returned to primetime Monday night, taking veiled shots at cable news outlets like his former employer without either apologizing for advising his disgraced brother through his sexual harassment scandal or acknowledging his own role in the polarization he lamented.
During the debut of “CUOMO” on NewsNation, the 52-year-old anchor said he “learned lessons” following his ouster from the cable giant and said his new show on the much smaller network would be free of political influence.
Cuomo vowed he would not pander to political fringes, or look to social media as a bellwether of the national mood. His message of neutrality echoed some of the language used earlier this year by new CNN boss Chris Licht, who had vowed to separate the network from “groupthink” and “advocacy” after Cuomo was fired last December for using his media sources to advise his brother, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, through his sexual harassment scandal. CNN’s president, Jeff Zucker, left the network a short time late after sources said he also inappropriately advised the former governor during his daily COVID-19 briefings.
“We are manipulated by manufactured division that only works to advance the interests of the fringe and the fake. It is only online and how that can be echoed on TV that distorts the reality,” Cuomo said Monday night.
“The majority is not about left or right, you’re about reasonable. That’s why I’m going to rely not on reading tweets to measure your feedback, I want to go old school here,” he said while reading a phone number that viewers could call to interact with the anchor.
“It will be a time for us to discuss our society as adults in the room, not some raging radicals or somebody with keyboard muscles,” Cuomo continued.
Cuomo then alluded to his ouster from “Cuomo Prime Time” after CNN said he violated its journalistic standards.
“I would like to dive right into the issues that are being ignored at home and abroad and the game that is driving our politics, but obviously, this show is not a normal show start, given how I got here,” Cuomo said.
“I have been humbled by what happened and I am also hungry to do better in a way that I was not before,” Cuomo said on the set of his new gig.
He stopped short of saying sorry for his past actions, but said he has learned from them.
“I have learned lessons — good and bad — in the past many months,” Cuomo said. “I have relied on my family, friends and therapist, and thankfully, it has been the case that what doesn’t kill us does makes us stronger.”
He claimed his show will be different from other cable news shows because he’s spent time watching news coverage from the sidelines.
Cuomo also promised to be “more transparent about where my head is on the issues that we cover” and added that he has the advantage of being a political insider.
“I also have a new appreciation for exactly how unique my situation is,” Cuomo said. “Most people in my business know politics from the outside. I know it from the inside.”
Cuomo notably did not mention his older Andrew brother when speaking of his inside knowledge of politics and instead spoke of his father, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
“I was raised by a giant named Mario Cuomo, a major voice for the old Democratic Party,” Cuomo said. “I have seen the inner workings of campaigns and the interplay between politics and government and the interplay between the media and those in power in a way few others in my position have.”
The news anchor reportedly took a massive pay cut as he joined NewsNation, insiders told The Post in July. He was believed to have been banking roughly $6 million a year for his CNN gig and is speculated to be bringing in just $1 million for his new gig, according to sources.
“I don’t think he had a lot of leverage,” one source, referring to Cuomo’s contract, said at the time. “He’s damaged goods.”
Cuomo, meanwhile, said he came to NewsNation for a fresh start.
“That’s why I am at NewsNation. It is new. No groupthink established, no audience that has been conditioned to favor one team or ideology,” Cuomo said. “After all, NewsNation refers to you, America. You are the news nation.
