Politics

FLASHBACK: Chris Cuomo Asks If People Can Trust Data From Florida’s Governor

Chris Cuomo blamed rise in homicides on states reopening. (Screenshot CNN, Cuomo Prime Time)

Screenshot CNN, Cuomo Prime Time

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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CNN anchor Chris Cuomo asked in July of 2020 whether people could trust the data coming from Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Cuomo responded to an ABC News update showing that Florida, reeling at the time from a number of consecutive days of adding over 9,000 new coronavirus cases, had recorded a lower number — 8,892 — for the first time in over two weeks. (RELATED: Cuomo Administration Hid Nursing Home Deaths To Keep Feds In The Dark: Report)

“Can we trust the data from florida’s governor?” Cuomo tweeted.

The CNN anchor’s brother, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was also critical of DeSantis. During a June 25 appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Cuomo claimed that DeSantis had “played politics with the virus” and lost.

WATCH:

The New York governor, whose state was the hardest hit early on in the coronavirus pandemic, received high praise for the way he handled the crisis. He went on to win an Emmy Award for his near-daily briefings and he wrote a book about leadership in a time of crisis.

But recent reports indicate that Cuomo was not reporting the number of coronavirus cases in his state accurately — specifically with regard to the number who died after contracting the virus in nursing homes after his March order directing them to accept patients regardless of their COVID status.

An aide said that Cuomo’s administration “froze,” changing the way such deaths were reported in an effort to prevent former President Donald Trump’s administration from using the real numbers against him.

During that time, Chris Cuomo interviewed his brother on a number of occasions — but did not press him on the subject of the nursing homes.