Janice Dean slams CNN as 'tone deaf' for defending Cuomo family special treatment
FOX News senior meteorologist Janice Dean joins 'The Story' to criticize special COVID test access given to governor's family
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo claimed in his poorly-aged book discussing the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic that he was unable to "help" his younger brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, after he tested positive last year.
That claim appears to be contradicted by this week's report by the Albany-based Times-Union newspaper, which states that Chris Cuomo was among the governor's relatives prioritized for COVID testing "at a time when many members of the public struggled to obtain coronavirus tests."
In Andrew Cuomo's book "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic", which was released in October 2020, the governor addressed how his brother's COVID diagnosis heavily impacted him.
"I was nervous for Chris; he's my little brother, and I've always been there for him," Andrew Cuomo wrote. "He was staying at home with his three kids and wife, confined to the basement, and he couldn't see anyone else."
CNN GOES 24 HOURS WITHOUT MENTIONING LATEST CUOMO BOMBSHELL IMPLICATING NETWORK'S STAR ANCHOR
Chris Cuomo wasn't exactly "confined to the basement", since he was caught outside on another property in violation of his brother's own COVID guidelines and was called out by a cyclist, which led to a heated confrontation. The CNN anchor then later faked his own reemergence from hos basement on "Cuomo Prime Time" following his recovery.
Andrew Cuomo then wrote: "It felt unnatural for me not to be able to see him and help him. But that was the curse of COVID."
Chris Cuomo was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 31. It is unclear, however, whether the anchor himself, CNN, or New York State taxpayers funded the test that showed the positive test results.
In the book, the governor acknowledged that his brother was "fortunate to have the best doctors available and all the help he needed." He also touted that his briefings and "Cuomo Prime Time" appearances were "the most comprehensive and intimate communications people were receiving about this crisis, and ... [my brother] was giving people a front-row seat to the disease's devastating symptoms - even for those who were young and healthy before."
According to the Times-Union, epidemiologist Dr. Eleanor Adams was sent to the CNN anchor's residence in Long Island to test him. It is unclear if she was the one who administered his positive test results.
In addition, New York State Police troopers were reportedly ordered to drive such COVID tests, which were referred to as "critical samples," to the Wadsworth Center laboratory in Albany.
A Cuomo administration official told the Albany paper, "It's being a little bit distorted with like a devious intent. ... We made sure to test people they believed were exposed." The official added: "All of this was being done in good faith in an effort to trace the virus."
The pro-Cuomo network did raise eyebrows late Wednesday with a statement that seemed to shrug off the controversy.
"We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees. However, it is not surprising in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would," CNN head of strategic communications Matt Dornic told Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple.
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CNN has not responded to Fox News' repeated requests for comment.
After allowing Chris Cuomo to crack jokes and perform prop comedy with his older brother nearly a dozen times on "Cuomo Prime Time," CNN recently announced that the anchor cannot cover the growing scandals plaguing the Cuomo administration, including a controversy surrounding nursing home deaths and multiple sexual misconduct allegations.