FOX News contributor Ari Fleischer called out CNN for allowing their conflicts of interest to impact their coverage of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's sex scandal.
Fleischer said Wednesday during an interview on "America Reports" that the liberal media outlet not disciplining anchor Chris Cuomo for offering his brother advice on his sex scandal was only one of the ethical problems that the network faces as a CNN executive also has ties to the governor.
"CNN has a real ethical problem on its hands. I mean the fact that the upper management at CNN, starting with Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, has not disciplined Chris Cuomo, the anchor for his taking a hand and guiding his governor brother through all this? The fact that the CNN anchor actively helped to cover up what the governor was doing -- and worked on message points for the governor to deliver -- this is a real ethical problem and CNN is taking no action," Fleischer said.
"And one of the reasons why -- I just have to point this out to viewers -- do you know who is in charge of communications at CNN? Governor Cuomo’s former communications director, Allison Gollust," he continued. "She now runs the show. She is the number two to Jeff Zucker at CNN, and one of the reasons CNN has not taken any disciplinary action against journalist Chris Cuomo is because of the relationship she has with Governor Andrew Cuomo."
Gollust, who is the network's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, worked as Gov. Cuomo's communications director in 2012 before leaving for CNN.
CNN had previously prohibited Chris Cuomo from covering his brother, but, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the network lifted the ban. Restrictions were again implemented after several allegations were charged at the governor, including the sexual harassment accusations and the COVID-19 nursing home scandal.
The CNN host was found earlier this year to have given his brother advice on how to handle the sexual harassment allegations. He later apologized to his CNN colleagues for putting them in a "bad spot." CNN elected not to discipline him and on Tuesday, he did not cover the New York attorney general's report that found Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.
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