CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is self-quarantining after testing positive for coronavirus, his brother New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has confirmed, proving that even spreading hysterical fear of the virus is no protection from it.
The journalist revealed he had tested positive in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday, and his older brother confirmed the diagnosis during his morning coronavirus press conference in Albany, waxing poetic about how the virus was “the great equalizer” even as he reassured reporters that the younger Cuomo was going to pull through.
The CNN anchor explained he found out he had the disease after experiencing coronavirus symptoms and being exposed to people who’d tested positive. He will continue broadcasting his show from his basement in New York, where he has self-quarantined, he said, adding that he was “feeling well.”
Cuomo revealed his illness the morning after sharing a cringeworthy family moment on air with his elder brother, who jokingly called him “manipulative” and affectionately referred to him as the “meatball” of the family.
The CNN anchor has done his part to pump up fear of the virus, encouraging his audience to think of it as “our 9/11” and throwing around potential death tolls as high as six million. Along with his fellow CNN talking heads, he has focused on excoriating President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic, from slamming the use of the term “Chinese virus” to repeatedly warning that the epidemic “hasn’t even begun” and is going to get a lot worse.
Cuomo’s coverage of the epidemic has also been deeply critical of anyone reluctant to “surrender the ‘me’ to the ‘we’” and follow orders. He accused those who questioned the wisdom of locking down the majority of the US population of “pulling a Trump” and reminded his audience that “we’re in a war.”
But while he was scolding Americans who resented being put out of work as the country flew into a belated panic over the pandemic, Cuomo was commuting to and from CNN headquarters in New York, an “essential worker” under his older brother’s definition.
Twitter had mixed feelings about Cuomo’s diagnosis. Many, of course, wished him a speedy recovery, with even those who normally denounce “fake news” CNN putting aside their political differences...sort of.
I’ve given you a lot of criticism but I want you healthy Chris! Praying for your family to stay safe and for you to recover quickly!!
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 31, 2020
Others weren’t so charitable, taking the opportunity to denounce Cuomo as a “left-wing rich elitist.”
You'll be just fine. You're a left-wing rich elitist. And if you need a ventilator in your private hospital room, if heaven forbid you have to be hospitalized, your brother, New York governor, will personally pull out one of those 10,000 ventilators he has stockpiled someplace.
— Foxy