Monday night saw America once again plagued with a Cuomo on a national news outlet. Chris “Fredo” Cuomo kicked off his new NewsNation show Cuomo by arguing that the national media needed to be beyond referees in American politics and promising that he will be more naked in exhibiting his biases. And to prove his dedication to that twisted view of what the press should be, he had fake news king Dan Rather join him as one of his first guests.
“So, this show is going to be different than what I've done in the past because I'm different and I've spent a lot of time looking and listening on the sidelines,” he said.
According to Cuomo, journalists needed to get more involved in American politics beyond just refereeing and promised to just be transparent with his bias:
It's obvious to me that we need people in my position to do more. To not just play or even referee the game that is plaguing our politics and society. That means exposing the game, show when it's played, show how it's being played, and also to be more transparent about where my head is on the issues that we cover.
Cuomo also wanted to touch on how he got to be on NewsNation after being the poster child for CNN. He used the opportunity to wax poetic about how his fall from grace was just the beginning:
Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest that the past is prologue, meaning that all that has happened before led to this moment. And so it is with me being here with you tonight. I believe that. I've learned lessons good and bad in the past many months. I’ve relied on my family, my friends, my therapist. And thankfully it's been the case that what doesn't kill us does make us stronger. I've been humbled by what happened and I’m also hungry to do better in a way that I've never been before.
Praising his new home, Cuomo touted NewsNation as the “new” thing and seemed to take a swipe at CNN, or at least cable news in general. “No group think established here. No audience that has been conditioned to favor one team or ideology,” he proclaimed.
Of course, he also plugged his podcast, The Chris Cuomo Project. He suggested his podcast, in conjunction with his TV show, offered “the most food for thought”:
Here, we are all about depth of discussion. We're going to look and what matters and why; here and online. That's why I started the Chris Cuomo Project. It's a podcast. We're going to have longer discussions about what matters. This show and the podcast will work together to give you the most food for thought that we can.
A while after the threat of intellectual starvation, Cuomo brought on one of the titans of fake news: Dan Rather. Ignoring the fact that Rather had ridden a fake news story to death of his career as a news anchor and the destruction of CBS’s credibility, Cuomo hailed him as still a giant in the industry.
The supposedly rehabilitated Cuomo made his own fake news when he claimed Rather had “never” said any “opinionated things” while “on-air” for CBS.
Chris also asked viewers to send him feedback on the show by calling this number: 1-844-968-7720. He also said that he might pick up on occasion.
Chris Cuomo’s opening declaration to be openly biased was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Fidelity Investments and Chevrolet. Their contact information is linked
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NewsNation’s Cuomo
October 3, 2022
8:01:09 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: Now, look. I'd like to just dive right into the issues that are being ignored at home and abroad. And we will. But obviously this isn't a normal show start given how I got here. So, a word about that first.
Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest that the past is prologue, meaning that all that has happened before led to this moment. And so it is with me being here with you tonight. I believe that. I've learned lessons good and bad in the past many months. I’ve relied on my family, my friends, my therapist. And thankfully it's been the case that what doesn't kill us does make us stronger. I've been humbled by what happened and I’m also hungry to do better in a way that I've never been before.
So, this show is going to be different than what I've done in the past because I'm different and I've spent a lot of time looking and listening on the sidelines. It's obvious to me that we need people in my position to do more. To not just play or even referee the game that is plaguing our politics and society. That means exposing the game, show when it's played, show how it's being played, and also to be more transparent about where my head is on the issues that we cover.
(…)
8:03:36 p.m. Eastern
CUOMO: The hope is to get viewers like you more involved. And empowered. That's why I'm at NewsNation. It's new. No group think established here. No audience that has been conditioned to favor one team or ideology. After all “NewsNation” refers to you, America.
You are the news nation and we will keep the focus on your interest as we cover the elections. We can bring it home here like no one else. Can we have 200 affiliates. No one can match that number or that reach. So, we can show you what's determining a race where it's happening. Not just according to paid pundits are correspondents that fly in and out, or some national party headquarters speak.
Here, we are all about depth of discussion. We're going to look and what matters and why; here and online. That's why I started the Chris Cuomo Project. It's a podcast. We're going to have longer discussions about what matters. This show and the podcast will work together to give you the most food for thought that we can.
(…)
8:06:11 p.m. Eastern
CUOMO: 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. You see the number that's going to pop up on your screen? I'll read it.
Let's go old school! Call in. You've got something you want to say to me; something you like something you don't like. Make a phone call and I'll take calls whenever I can. 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. Own what you want to say? Say it to me. Let's have a conversation.
(…)
8:48:46 p.m. Eastern
CUOMO: You throw a lot of punches on Twitter. They're opinionated things. They're pointed things. There's some snarky things. You were never really like that on-air. Is that intentional and doesn't reflect different feelings now than you used to have?
DAN RATHER: Well, I don't think it reflects different opinions, Chris.
(…)
