In audio leaked to Fox News and played on Tuesday’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” CNN anchor Chris Cuomo says “there’s nothing” to any sexual misconduct rumors about him.
In an undated conversation with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen — which he didn’t realize was being recorded — Cuomo said, “I’m always careful when I talk to media, you know?”
He went on, “Do you know how many f—ing phone calls I’ve gotten from people at ABC who say that reporters are calling and lying about things they heard about me to try to get stories about me when I was at ABC? Guys calling and saying, ‘I heard he’s the Charlie Rose of ABC, used to invite women to the hotel and open up his bathrobe.’ Do I look like the kind of f—ing guy who’s gotta do that?”
He said “there’s nothing” to the rumors and “you can’t trust the media.”
Representatives for Cuomo did not immediately return a request for comment, but President Donald Trump had plenty to say.
On Twitter, the president wrote of Cuomo, “Will Fredo be fired by Fake News @CNN? He speaks with great disrespect about women, and it will only get worse. Fredo’s Ratings are bad, so this is the time. Always terrible to speak to sleazebags, especially when you are being recorded. CNN has no choice, Fredo must go!”
It was unclear whether Cohen is one of the “sleazebags” to which Trump referred — though Carlson called him a “sleazeball” during the Tuesday night segment repeatedly — but Cohen, too weighed in on Twitter. He said the only people in possession of that audiotape besides himself were Trump and the Department of Justice and he didn’t authorize Fox News to run it.
Trump “and cronies violated my First amendment rights and now this,” Cohen wrote, “all to discredit me and my book. What’s next?”
Cuomo has not publicly been named in any misconduct cases. In July, frequent Fox News guest Cathy Areu named Carlson in a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct. And at least 25 women have come forward in recent years accusing Trump of sexual misconduct ranging from ogling to rape.