CNN's Chris Cuomo argues Trump's alleged affair with Stormy Daniels was already 'baked in' to his image

Chris Cuomo assesses fallout from Stormy Daniels
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CNN)

Anderson Cooper's interview with porn star Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with President Trump aired on 60 Minutes Sunday night, but on Monday morning, CNN's Chris Cuomo seemed underwhelmed. "I don't think that you're going to get a lot of political fallout from Donald Trump in terms of having affairs," he said. "I think that was baked in in the character analysis of him by people who voted for him." Michael Smerconish agreed. "This is consensual sex among two individuals, he noted. "He was not president of the United States. He may have a problem at home — he may need to distract the news cycle so that Melania has something else to watch today. But politically speaking, I think it's a non-starter."

The great meh was echoed by former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who told Cuomo he thinks "there will be less fallout than people think, because I think people have been anesthetized to these sorts of scandals. I mean, it goes all the way back to President Clinton. So for me, I think we'll talk about it, there'll be another news cycle, and then we'll move on."

Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, promised CNN's Alisyn Camerota that he and Daniels are "just getting started." "We have a whole host of evidence" that Trump knew of his lawyer Michael Cohen's efforts to silence and allegedly threaten Daniels. He wouldn't say much more, but said they would release it in the "next weeks and months." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.