Chris Cuomo has addressed his brother’s, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, defeat in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, claiming that the Democratic Party is “dead.”
The news anchor spoke on the matter on his NewsNation show on Wednesday (June 25), saying his brother’s loss to 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani was a sign that the Democrats are in “a period of extremism” and “tacitly supporting extreme Islamism.”
“Thank you very much for all the kind words about my brother. I didn’t cover the mayoral election or even comment on it here at NewsNation for obvious reasons, and my feelings about my brother and what he should do now, those are personal, not professional. So suffice to say, I love and support my brother and I’m not worried about him,” Chris said at the top of the segment, per Mediaite.
He went on to say he wasn’t surprised by the Democratic primary results in New York City, citing “low turnout” and that “enthusiasm and turnout energy were overweighted for the more extreme candidates.”
“There were several radical choices in the mix, not to mention, and contrary to what was sold by his opponents, Andrew’s no establishment guy, and the party was not loving that he ran, but that’s his case to make, okay?” Chris continued.
He then turned his attention to Mamdani, a democratic socialist, claiming that the Democratic Party’s support of such a candidate means they’re “now officially in MAGA mode.”
“The same way MAGA played with the prejudices of white nationalism, you’re seeing an identical dynamic on the left with prejudices like tacitly supporting extreme Islamism or targeting Jews,” Chris claimed. “For the right, it’s migrants. For the left, it’s Jews. It’s fundamentalist Christians dominating the right. It’s fundamentalist Islamists making headway on the left. I know that doesn’t sound like Democrats, but that party is dead. What it will be reborn as, we’ll see.”
Chris stated there are now “many in America who are adopting and adapting to fundamentalism,” noting, “The outcome in this election wasn’t about affordability or about real change. The winner is an open socialist and the Democratic Party is now just that: socialistic. But be clear, this is a fictional fix for very real frustrations.”
Andrew previously served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021 following sexual harassment charges. Chris was later fired from CNN after it came out he was involved with his brother’s defense.