Chris Cuomo rips CNN over report on Iran strike – Business News
Chris Cuomo ripped into his former community CNN on Wednesday, accusing it of leaning into partisan theatrics because it feuds with President Trump over a report questioning the effectiveness of US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Cuomo’s criticism got here during his NewsNation show “Cuomo,” the place he hosted Bill O’Reilly to debate fallout from a leaked intelligence evaluation suggesting the latest strikes seemingly delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions by months — not years, as US officers had claimed.
“I think that [CNN is] trying too hard to compete with these pod bros and people who sell hysteria for profit,” Cuomo mentioned on his show.
NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo (left) criticized his former community CNN whereas internet hosting Bill O’Reilly on his show on Thursday. Newsnation
“We just too often get caught up in the propaganda game.”
Trump blasted the media protection, labeling it “fake news,” whereas Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth additionally dismissed the studies during a Thursday press convention.
“Iran’s nuclear sites were obliterated,” Hegseth mentioned, including that initial intelligence is “almost always wrong, almost always incomplete.”
O’Reilly advised Cuomo that CNN was intentionally downplaying the influence of the strikes.
“There’s nobody who went under the mountain to see. The Iranians can’t even do that because the mountain may collapse on them,” he mentioned.
“There’s absolutely no primary source reporting on the damage that the American planes caused. None. So you got four anonymous people saying, ‘Well, I might have heard this, I might have heard that.’”
CNN’s Jake Tapper defended his community from blowback after it reported that the US strike on Iran’s nuclear amenities set the nation’s nuclear program back solely a few months, in accordance with intelligence assessments. CNN
The former Fox News host slammed the community’s editorial judgment, calling it half of a broader decline in journalism.
“It’s absurd. No competent journalistic editor would have printed that article, but since CNN is in business to make Trump look bad, as you said, every moment of every day, they throw it out there,” O’Reilly mentioned.
“I think we all know that the journalism industry in America and the world is at the lowest point in the history of that industry.”
Cuomo agreed with the broader media critique, suggesting the information business is chasing hype to compete with web personalities.
“I think that [CNN is] trying too hard to compete with these pod bros and people who sell hysteria for profit,” Cuomo mentioned on his show. Getty Images
Still, he pushed back on some of O’Reilly’s factors — particularly the function of nameless sources.
“Trump asked for it by saying everything was obliterated, so he asks for the criticism, because he doesn’t know that either,” Cuomo mentioned.
“But anonymous sources matter, Bill. If it weren’t for anonymous sources, in your career and mine, very often you wouldn’t know anything about what’s happening in the halls of power.”
Though Cuomo was fired by CNN in 2021, he expressed admiration for a lot of of its journalists, whereas calling out what he sees as its latest ideological tilt.
“Even though I got fired, I have a lot of respect for the men and women who are doing the job there, and I miss a lot of them,” he mentioned.
President Trump has denounced CNN and different information shops that reported the intelligence evaluation. Ken Cedeno/UPI/Shutterstock
“But they see what’s happening on the left. You see that they’re in MAGA mode … There are no more Democrats. There are no more Republicans. There’s MAGA, and now you have whatever they call the new lefty MAGA.”
A CNN spokesperson advised The Post: “CNN stands by our thorough reporting on an early intelligence assessment of the recent strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which has since been confirmed by other news organizations. The White House has acknowledged the existence of the assessment, and their statement is included in our story.”
Cuomo was fired from CNN in December 2021 after it was alleged that he used his media connections to help his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in responding to sexual harassment allegations. Chris Cuomo has denied the allegations.
The information anchor lashed out on the Democratic Party earlier this week after his brother misplaced within the New York City mayoral major to socialist underdog Zohran Mamdani, declaring on his NewsNation show that the Democratic Party is “dead” and accusing it of embracing extremism.
He additionally took goal at US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), calling her a “deranged form of Democrat,” and expressed disbelief at her continued recognition.
