Cuomo Defends Trump against ‘Unprofessional’ and ‘Really Biased’ Media
New York governor Andrew Cuomo criticized media treatment of President Trump, in a Monday interview on the Albany-based WAMC.
Cuomo’s remarks came after he had his own testy exchange with Wall Street Journal reporter Jimmy Vielkind at his own press conference the same day. After Vielkind pressed him on whether New York City schools were about to shut down, Cuomo yelled at Vielkind that he was “confused” regarding the issue.
However, during the subsequent interview with WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Cuomo said reporters had adopted a “nastier tone” and “disrespect that never existed” toward politicians.
“The way they question President Trump at some of these press conferences is just—I’ve never heard that tone with the president,” Cuomo said. “There are reporters who just are unprofessional, don’t know the facts and ask really biased questions….You want to say ‘well I don’t like the president and I disrespect him,’ I know but it’s still the office of the president.”
The relationship between Trump and reporters has itself been the subject of intense media coverage. Reporters and the president have sparred since the 2016 presidential campaign began, with Trump labelling various media outlets “fake news.”
Cuomo’s own coronavirus press briefings were widely covered in March when the pandemic slammed New York City and its surrounding environs. The governor also regularly appeared for interviews with his brother Chris, an anchor at CNN.
