The media continues to offer adoring news coverage of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and his newfound authoritative demeanor during the coronavirus crisis. Trouble is, the journalists are overlooking Mr. Cuomo’s record as a governor, according to a new analysis.
“For the past several weeks, TV journalists have been unrelentingly nasty in their coverage of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But they’ve also found a liberal Democratic politician to rally around: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo has become a darling of the liberal media thanks to his daily press conferences — along with the fact that he is not President Trump,” wrote Bill D’Agostino, media editor for Newsbusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.
He cited examples on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS during the last three weeks which have suggested that Mr. Cuomo is actually the “acting president” during the national health emergency.
“You spoke to national guard troops today in a stirring speech that, if I wasn’t listening carefully, I’d thought were sending soldiers off to war,” NBC News anchor Lester Holt told Mr. Cuomo in one recent interview.
“Like Holt, most of the journalists praising Cuomo have focused on his daily briefings, while his actual performance as a Governor have been largely ignored,” Mr. D’Agostino observed.
Other observers appear to agree.
“The media need to scrutinize Andrew Cuomo’s record, not crush on his words,” wrote Julie Hollar, a senior analyst for FAIR — Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting — a progressive press watchdog and nonprofit.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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