NewsNation's Chris Cuomo recently expressed his disdain for the partisan exploitation of a phone call he made to former President Donald Trump.
Cuomo, who has been critical of the media's coverage of alleged assassination attempts on Trump, accused both sides of the political spectrum of using the call for their own advantage. However, he singled out Democrats for their particularly harsh responses.
"Partisans on both sides weaponized it, just as I expected," Cuomo stated, according to Mediaite. His comments were in reference to his previous monologue, where he criticized the media for downplaying an alleged second assassination attempt on Trump. The incident occurred after a potential gunman was apprehended in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the former president was golfing. This followed an earlier incident where Trump was targeted in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cuomo dismissed critics who claimed the phone call was fabricated and highlighted examples of right-wing accounts emphasizing his apology to Trump. He had previously stated that his call to Trump was driven by concern for the former president and his family, as well as his own dissatisfaction with the media's coverage of the assassination attempts.
Conservatives, Cuomo noted, interpreted his apology as a "sign of weakness." He clarified his stance, stating, "Heres the truth. I reached out to Trump to let him know that I think it is shameful and embarrassing and horrifying that he has suffered multiple assassination attempts and that is shameful how limited outrage has been."
Cuomo expressed his surprise at the responses from Trump's critics on social media, some of whom suggested that Trump "deserved" the attacks. "By the way, the right were the nice ones on this. The real reaction I expected came heavy and hard, and it was from the left," Cuomo said.
He argued that Democrats, particularly President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, should distance themselves from these individuals and their views. Cuomo criticized the Democrats for their silence on the issue, stating, "You want to condemn hate speech? Good. You want to condemn demonizing migrants? Good. But where is that same energy when youre talking about violence against your opponents?"
Former President Trump has directly attributed the attacks against him to the "rhetoric" of Biden, Harris, and other Democrats. This claim was flatly rejected by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. In a heated exchange with Fox News Peter Doocy, Jean-Pierre defended her characterization of Trump as a "threat" to democracy, citing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and other incidents as evidence.
"We have at the same time denounced political violence over and over, denounced political rhetoric over and over and over again," she said. Despite these claims, the debate over the media's coverage of the alleged assassination attempts on Trump and the subsequent political fallout continues to rage on.
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