MEA CULPA

Chris Cuomo Backtracks: ‘I Never Meant’ to Trash CNN Job in Radio Meltdown

Cuomo said on Monday that he didn’t like his job and thought it was a waste of his time.

Chris Cuomo said Tuesday that, despite his battle with coronavirus making him rethink his position as a public figure, he “never meant” to say he didn’t like his job as a CNN anchor. “It’s not true,” Cuomo said on his SiriusXM radio show on Tuesday. “I never said it. I never meant it.” On Monday, Cuomo seemingly trashed his TV job, CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, during his radio show, stating: “I don’t like what I do professionally. I don’t think it’s worth my time.” The host said that he missed the freedom to tell his critics to “go to hell” and said he doesn’t want to spend his life “trafficking in things that I think are ridiculous,” like “talking to Democrats about things that I don’t really believe they mean,” and “talking to Republicans about them parroting things they feel they have to say.”

Cuomo sought to clarify his statement on Tuesday, stating that, after he announced on March 31 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, CNN had been supportive of his recovery and he had “never been in a better position, professionally, than I am in right now.” “I’ll never be able to repay them, but I’ll try hard to do so. I’ve never been more grateful. I’ve never been on a better team,” he added. The CNN host, who has just signed a long-term contract extension with the network, stressed that while he loves his job it is sometimes difficult to be a journalist in an environment where “people are so intent on believing what they want to believe for political advantage.”