Bozell: ‘Hypocritical’ CNN ‘Knew’ About Cuomo Corruption

7:48 PM ET

FOX NEWS REPORTER [12/04/21]Fox News Alert: Chris Cuomo was fired by CNN.

GREG KELLY – Wow! Breaking news! It’s front page news! The New York TimesThis is the headline news about a cable guy losing his TV show. Most Americans don’t even know he has that show. This is Walter Cronkite. Walter Cronkite may have been the greatest broadcast journalist ever to live. He might not have been an expert, but he could have been considered a little lefty. Dan Rather assumed his job when he quit. The New York TimesYou should have it placed on page C-30. And when they actually made the switch, that was the announcement, they put it even deeper in the paper, on page 47, right on top of the TV Guide: “Cronkite Says Goodbye.” What has happened to our media culture?

Brent Bozell is President and founder at the Media Research Center. I will discuss all of this with him. He is the author of You’ll find stops on the Way: A Catholic Soul, a Conservative Heart and an Irish Temper.Tomorrow is the 7th of December, when we will release the book. Congratulations, we’ll ask you about the book as well. Brent, we’re glad to have you.

BRENT BOZELL – Hi Greg! Great research.

KELLY: I have to tell you that I really was wondering about this. It occurred to me that we are making so much of this. Cronkite’s departure was a clear reminder. We are so fixated on Cronkite. Is it because these people are so obsessed with fake news?

BOZELL: One is watching them, and that’s reporters from The New York TimesThey are the ones who tell the stories. That and people at the dental office but the – look, the last – think about Bernie Shaw for a second. In the 1990s, CNN’s anchor was his reporter, and he was also the most well-known, but least important, reporter. And by that I mean that when you watched CNN you didn’t watch Bernie Shaw. The news was what you were watching. The news was what you saw when you watched CBS Under Walter Cronkite. This was his primary role.

Now it’s all about the anchor. Now it’s all about the news anchor Chris Cuomo. If you have a talk show like yours, that’s perfectly fine. If it’s a show about – that Hannity is hosting, that Levin is hosting, that Kelly is hosting, that’s perfectly fine. It was meant to be news with Chris Cuomo. So you’re right, it ought not to have been on the front page. It ought to have been in the C section.

KELLY: It’s interesting, you know, and I would be perfectly okay if he just said this is an opinion show. This is what I have to say about my show. And quite frankly, we already know what happened because of our phones by the time eight o’clock or nine o’clock or 10 o’clock rolls around, whenever his show is on. So the idea that you’re just going to find out what happened, I’m not sure if that’s as valuable anymore, but they still insist on the pretense, you know?

BOZELL: Why call it – why call him a news anchor when he’s having a talk show, and he’s interviewing his brother and passing softballs? There’s no news in that. In fact, if you think about the Cable News Network, there’s very little news. There’s very little news on Fox News. If you’re going to have commentary, have commentary.

Another point is about Chris Cuomo. Here’s what truly irks me. The fact – the idea that suddenly a light bulb went off at CNN: Oh, my God, they learned he was helping his brother. You don’t need to look for phone calls. You don’t need to look for special emails. You just needed to watch TV.

I’ll tell you another bit of BS. They just discovered that he could be a predator sexually. Look, this goes back to ABC, they knew – he’s a Cuomo. They were aware of his identity, what he did, and they had the insight to suddenly learn all about him. This is just hypocritical, I’m sorry.

KELLY: Brent, that’s one thing, though. He could have been fired long ago, according to my book. Rudy Giuliani actually checked him and Cuomo said that he was extremely disrespectful. However, this allegation comes from the time he worked at ABC. Debra Katz is the involved lawyer. Debra Katz is also the person who assisted Christine Blasey Ford. It’s a very selective kind of cancel culture. They can take the initiative whenever they wish. And I’m a little –  look, we have his resume of Cuomo’s tenure at ABC. From 2000 through 2013, he was with ABC. And now this woman comes forward, allegedly, she says, to protect women, that’s her goal, to protect women. You might not have come forward nine years after it occurred if she had wanted to protect women. So I find that part of the story – I’m somewhat sympathetic to Cuomo and I, because I find that a little absurd. This – anything that Debra Katz touches after the Christine Blasey Ford thing.

BOZELL: There are two areas in which I can agree with your views. One, I can sympathize and understand someone as dedicated to his family than Chris Cuomo. Had Chris Cuomo done everything with all those phone calls, all that stuff he was doing behind the scenes, had he simply taken a leave of absence from CNN – or at the very least, recused himself from any coverage of his brother – I’d have no problem with it. It is a sign of Chris Cuomo’s arrogance to claim he can do such a thing and be on national TV and still call himself a news station. The second area, and I’m even stronger in my in my support for you on this position, when you look at these women – and the Kavanaugh story was a perfect example of this – who come forward years and years after the fact. Clarence Thomas, Antia Hill, many years after the fact. I’m sorry, I don’t buy it.

KELLY: I understand.

BOZELL. If somebody is interested, throw the book at him. However, they did not wait for Chris Cuomo to leave. They went on after him.

KELLY: Brent, come back later this week, we’re going to talk about the book and a lot more to talk about in the media landscape. We must run. Thank you so much, sir. From the Media Research Center.

BOZELL: Greg, thank you.