CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has joined the chorus of mainstream media members pushing the narrative that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, "abandoned" the family dog on his ill-timed vacation to Cancun, drawing more attention to the GOP lawmaker's controversy than his own brother's growing nursing home scandal.
Cuomo, along with CNN, have made an unprecedented push to downplay and deflect from the controversies surrounding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with the far-left network giving developments in the nursing home scandal little to no airtime -- while giving the "Cuomo Prime Time" host free rein to conduct friendly, comical interviews with the scandal-plagued governor in the early months of the pandemic.
After criticizing Cruz Thursday night for leaving the Lone Star State as thousands of his constituents continued to struggle from the effects of the deadly winter storm, the CNN anchor found a new way to knock the Republican senator.
Late Thursday, New York Magazine published a report with the headline, "Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake". In a viral tweet, story author Michael Hardy shared a photograph of the Cruz family dog waiting at the front door of the house.
TED CRUZ'S CANCUN TRIP FOCUS OF CNN, MSNBC PRIMETIME HOSTS, NOT CUOMO NURSING HOME SCANDAL
"Just drove by Ted Cruz’s house in Houston. His lights are off but a neighbor told me the block got its power back last night. Also, Ted appears to have left behind the family poodle," Hardy tweeted.
While many of Cruz's critics rushed to condemn him for "abandoning" the pet, they apparently did not read the magazine report, which noted that a self-identified "security guard" who answered the door upon Hardy's visit told the reporter that he was taking care of the dog.
Responding to another Twitter user who captioned the image of the dog, "Gosh, Cruz’s poodle, Snowflake is all Texans. Abandoned in the dark," Cuomo replied, "True?"
Cuomo was far from alone in pushing the false narrative that Cruz left the dog "alone" in the house. Many of his own CNN colleagues spread the false headline.
"In the event you thought @tedcruz could not possibly be a more detestable human being, he left his poodle alone in the house, freezing without electricity while they left to Cancún," CNN commentator Ana Navarro tweeted.
"Not only did Senator Ted Cruz & his family abandon the people of #Texas for a vacation in #Cancun during the winter crisis; but they also abandoned their dog!" CNN analyst April Ryan exclaimed.
Cuomo's animus towards Cruz is no secret. The two of them traded barbs last September during a contentious interview after the top Republican invoked the nursing home controversy that had been plaguing the anchor's brother.
There has been growing criticism of CNN's Cuomo for avoiding the nursing home scandal. Earlier this week, CNN said its anchor was barred from covering his relative and admitting network brass lifted the "rule" in the early months of the pandemic for the host to conduct his chummy fraternal interviews. Chris Cuomo did find the time to repeatedly attack Cruz on his show Thursday evening.
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Gov. Cuomo's administration is reportedly under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn after critics accused officials of covering up the true number of COVID nursing home deaths in the state. Early in the pandemic, the governor ordered assisted living facilities to accept COVID-positive patients in order to keep hospital beds free.