Rand Paul: Chris Cuomo firing ‘a small step toward CNN regaining any credibility’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Saturday that the firing of former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is “a small step toward CNN regaining any kind of credibility.”

“Long overdue, and a small step toward CNN regaining any kind of credibility…” Paul tweeted.

Long overdue, and a small step toward CNN regaining any kind of credibility… https://t.co/bwOLKrpoCB

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 5, 2021

Earlier on Saturday, CNN confirmed that it had fired anchor Chris Cuomo after suspending him earlier in the week. 

“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense,” CNN said in a statement. “We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”

The network said on Tuesday that it had suspended the primetime anchor following the release of documents from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office that indicated the he had more involvement in his brother’s sexual harassment case than was previously known. 

Those documents revealed that he had texted former top aides to his brother, messages that indicated he was assisting in learning about or providing information on people coming forward with allegations. 

“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly. But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second,” the network said on Tuesday upon the news that the network had suspended him. 

“However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew.” 

In a statement posted on Twitter following the news of his termination, Cuomo said not apologize for his actions but noted that “this is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother.” 

“So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at Cuomo Prime Time and the work we did as CNN’s #1 show in the most competitive time slot. I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work,” he added.