Andrew and Chris Cuomo certainly have issues — that is, aside from the political positions you’d expect from a governor and a news commentator. This became apparent Tuesday when journalist Chris interviewed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on the Wuhan virus, and the discussion devolved into a juvenile sibling-rivalry spat over who was their mother’s favorite child.
The puerile display occurred on the journalist’s CNN show Cuomo Prime Time and began when Chris asked if, among other things, curfews might be necessary to halt the Wuhan virus’s spread. This prompted the governor to say toward the end of his answer, “Curfew, I don’t like the word curfew. Dad tried to have a curfew for me; I never got past the resentment. But I do believe you’ll see more tightening if the numbers don’t slow.”
Perhaps feeling compelled to defend his father or possibly driven by some childhood-born resentment, Chris then responded to his older brother, “The least of your problems, by the way. Your problems with the curfew were the least of your problems, just so you know.”
The discussion degenerated from there, proceeding as follows:
Governor Cuomo: I never — you violated the curfew all the time, caused much pain. But that’s a different story.
Chris Cuomo: I don’t believe in rules. Governor Andrew Cuomo, I appreciate you coming on the show. I love you. I’m proud of what you’re doing. I know you’re working hard for your state, but no matter how hard you’re working, there’s always time to call mom. She wants to hear from you, just so you know.
Governor Cuomo: Yeah. I called mom. I called mom just before I came on the show.
Chris Cuomo: Not what she said. [Not what she said.]
Governor Cuomo: By the way, she said I was her favorite.
Chris Cuomo: She never said that.
Governor Cuomo: Good news, she said you are her second favorite, second favorite son, Christopher.
Chris Cuomo: We both know neither of us are [sic] mom’s first or second favorite in the family. I can’t believe you’re lying to my audience. You’ve blown the credibility of the entire interview. I should have ended it before.
Governor Cuomo: Second favorite son, listen to the word.
Chris Cuomo: Politicians are very tricky, throw a word in there after the first time you said it, it creates a lot of doubt.
Governor Cuomo: Not me. Straight across the plate. Straight across the plate .
Apparently, the Nepotism Brothers — the two men have their positions only because their father, Mario Cuomo, was a longtime New York governor — never heard the counsel, “Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public.”
But almost as pathetically amusing was how the Counterfeit News Network (CNN) spun the exchange, running the headline “Chris Cuomo jokes with brother about mom’s favorite.” The Hill peddled similar swill, characterizing the spat as an incident in which “brothers rib each other.”
In reality, the video makes clear that deep emotion and resentment underlay the dispute. Chris almost seemed to become teary-eyed as he suppressed negative feelings, while the governor clearly enjoyed pushing his little brother’s buttons.
This apparently isn’t difficult, either, as last summer’s “Fredo” blowup proved. In that incident (video below. Warning: vulgar language), Chris pulled a Biden and threatened to throw a man down the stairs for calling him “Fredo,” the loser, under-achieving brother character in the film The Godfather: Part II (1974).
As to why the comparison raised Chris’s ire, below is a video of the fictional Fredo blowing up at his brother Michael.
Ironically, though, the first person to call Chris “Fredo” was, apparently, Chris himself. It was a joke in response to a radio host who, in a 2010 interview, termed the newsman’s family “la Cuomo Nostra,” a reference to the mafia.
This brings us to a lesson here. As is the case with Joe Biden — who in his mental decline has made a habit of challenging voters to pushup contests and fights — Chris would look far better and classier and be more popular if he’d handled the personal attacks with humor.
In the Fredo situation, for example, lightheartedly saying, “Hey, watch out or I’ll get the family after you!” would have inspired respect. Regarding his brother’s claim of mommy-favorite status, Chris could have stated, humorously, “Yes, we know. You’re everyone’s favorite — especially your own!” (This said, personal issues shouldn’t be aired publicly in the first place.)
But instead the Cuomos acted immaturely. Exhibiting a lack of sense of humor, propriety, humility, and perspective, they acted like typical morally disordered liberals and came off as, well, a couple of Fredos.
The good news for the Cuomos is that with the Wuhan virus scare emptying airports, they can console themselves with the knowledge that virtually no one would have seen them on CNN.
Image: screenshot from YouTube video
Selwyn Duke (@SelwynDuke) has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.
