On Monday's New Day on CNN, after a segment on Hillary Clinton's interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer as part of the former Secretary of State's book promotion, co-host Chris Cuomo, possibly concerned about his brother New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's presidential ambitions, made a blunt accusation about the good press Clinton has been receiving from the dominant media.
The CNN anchor declared that "she's just got a free ride so far," and that "we couldn't give her any more help than we have," as he and guest co-host Brooke Baldwin fretted that Clinton is hurting the fundraising efforts of other potential Democratic candidates by delaying an official announcement.
Then, Cuomo dialed things up even further as he added: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
CHRIS CUOMO: We're the biggest ones promoting her campaign, so it better happen.
A bit later, at 7:28 a.m., Cuomo seemed cynical at all the attention the media has been giving to Clinton as he seemed to take a jab at his own show while teasing New Day's regular "Inside Politics" segment:
Coming up on New Day, the endless reading of the Hillary tea leaves continues. She's now speaking out about her decision on when to decide, and we are covering this as if she has decided.
An earlier plug from Cuomo also had a cynical tone toward the media:
Coming up on New Day, the Hillary Clinton book tour: Is it really the kickoff to her presidential campaign? Because, otherwise, why are we talking about it so much?
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Monday, June 9, New Day on CNN:
CHRIS CUOMO, BEFORE COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 6:17 A.M.: Coming up on New Day, the Hillary Clinton book tour: Is it really the kickoff to her presidential campaign? Because, otherwise, why are we talking about it so much? We're going to tell you what she's saying about what's going to happen and when.
(...)
BROOKE BALDWIN, AT 6:27 A.M.: But just quickly to your point. I mean, if she does take quite a while longer, what happens to other folks who want a chance to run against her?
CHRIS CUOMO: It's a problem because what she's doing is what they call in politics "freezing pockets" because the donors are giving her money thinking she's going to run. That means they're not going to have available money for other candidates-
BALDWIN: Exactly.
CUOMO: -if she doesn't. And I don't think she's going to give it to them.
BALDWIN: She's on her way to deciding, about deciding.
CUOMO: We'll see. We couldn't help her any more than we have, you know. I mean, she's got just a free ride so far from the media. We're the biggest ones promoting her campaign, so it better happen.
(...)
CUOMO, BEFORE COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 7:28 A.M.: Coming up on New Day, the endless reading of the Hillary tea leaves continues. She's now speaking out about her decision on whether to decide, and we're covering this as if she has decided.
