If there’s no way for an interview between two brothers to be anything other than farce, then CNN should ask the governor to appear on another show. This would help the network avoid such an obvious conflict of interest and one that it would take square aim at were it to appear on another network. One imagines that if Donald Trump, Jr., had a show on Fox News and used it to playfully antagonize Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner while thousands of elderly Americans suffocated to death, CNN would bash it as shamefully distracting state TV.
It’s not just Cuomo Prime Time, of course: Much of the mainstream media has spent the last several weeks lionizing New York’s governor for his handling of the pandemic. The case for Cuomo’s competence appears to be that he speaks authoritatively and sympathetically in his press conferences—unlike Trump, who trips over his words, contradicts his advisors, makes outlandish statements, and lashes out at the press. But while Trump is sparring with a hostile media, Cuomo benefits from a media that wants to turn him into a sex symbol.
