Politics

CNN Gives Little Air Time To Cuomo #MeToo Allegations

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CNN has given very little air time to sexual misconduct allegations against Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The network spent less than two minutes out of 48 hours discussing Lindsey Boylan’s allegations against the New York governor and ignored the topic during primetime, Fox News reported. The network does not appear to have mentioned either the allegations or Boylan all day Friday as of 4 p.m.

CNN mentions Boylan’s name in one story published Thursday headlined around Cuomo’s denial of her allegations.

NewsBusters reporter Curtis Huock found that the network only spent 96 seconds over two news briefs on the matter while MSNBC spent about nine minutes and 45 seconds on the topic.

Boylan originally accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in a December tweet thread, then shared details of her allegations in a Medium post Wednesday morning. Boylan, who worked for the Cuomo administration from March 2015 to October 2018, said that the governor kissed her without her consent during a one-on-one briefing and made a number of sexually charged comments to her.

Cuomo has denied the allegations.

CNN did not discuss the allegations on air until 12:49 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, according to NewsBusters, when “Inside Politics” host John King briefly discussed the topic. Jake Tapper also briefly discussed the story later Thursday.

Both segments led by citing Cuomo’s denial of the allegations.

“CNN has been unable to corroborate Boylan’s allegations,” journalist Eddie Zipperor highlighted Tapper saying in his segment.

“I bet CNN’s audience was shocked to find out that corroboration is required,” Zipperor tweeted. “And that the allegations against Cuomo even exist.”

Regarding the allegations against Gov. Cuomo, @jaketapper says “CNN has been unable to corroborate Boylan’s allegations.”

I bet CNN’s audience was shocked to find out that corroboration is required.

And that the allegations against Cuomo even exist. pic.twitter.com/E0QTPtfMVa

— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) February 26, 2021

Zipperer also highlighted CNN New Day’s coverage of Julie Swetnik’s allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Here’s a tiny sample of what New Day’s coverage of sexual harassment allegations against Brett Kavanaugh looked like:
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/xttgFc6Dzi

— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) February 25, 2021

Fox News reported that CNN also devoted large segments to coverage of President Donald Trump’s accuser E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in her dressing room over 20 years ago. Caroll discussed her allegations during a primetime interview with Anderson Cooper.

When President Joe Biden’s accuser Tara Reade accused him of sexually assaulting her when she worked for him as a Senate staffer in 1993, CNN failed to uncover footage from its own archives that would support Reade’s allegations. CNN only published a story about the unearthed video footage after facing criticism and following a Daily Caller report on the matter.

Andrew Cuomo’s brother, host Chris Cuomo, has been banned by the network from covering his brother.

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.