During a long New Day segment on CNN concerning the numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against Charlie Rose and CBS’ decision to suspend him, CNN’s Chris Cuomo declared “not all accusations are equal.” At the time, he was discussing the distinct differences between Rose’s case and that of Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican vying for Jeff Sessions’ empty U.S. Senate seat. Despite a subsequent clarification to New Day co-host Alisyn Camerota and the segment’s panelists, however, Cuomo’s phrasing seemed like it would be — in the anchor’s own words — “a little unpopular.” He continued:
“Not all accusations are equal. We’re seeing that in the Roy Moore situation. You don’t have a real vetting of fact, there is no investigation or prosecution by a government entity, a lot of this is about what you choose to believe. On the corporate level, that’s going to be true also. To be clear, if CBS knew about these meritorious claims and did nothing, they need to be called out just as much as Charlie Rose, because that’s how you change corporate culture. However, in their defense, not all accusations are equal, and very often the expedient thing to do is to settle a claim.”
Explaining his point further, Cuomo noted that “even though you don’t think there’s much to it,” once the news media finds out about it, that’s when corporate entities like CBS will find themselves facing additional problems and scrutiny. However, after Cuomo, Camerota, and their guests scrutinized Rose’s statement responding to the accusations — in which the broadcaster said, “I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken” — the co-anchor felt the need to clarify his previous comments significantly.
“As we continue, as this pendulum swings, we do have to be dutiful about making sure we’re focusing on the right things,” Cuomo told Camerota. “And that the lust of seeing people… the reckoning we keep hearing about, has to be done responsibly.” You can watch the full segment below.
(Via CNN)