Chris Cuomo began his appearance on Thursday's Late Show by lifting Stephen Colbert and then explaining his CNN catchphrase: "Get after it." It's his life philosophy, Cuomo said, and a recognition that this is not a time to passively interview officials. Colbert asked him if he expects to persuade people to change their point of view, given America's remarkably fixed opinions on Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Russian election interference, and everything else to do with President Trump, not to mention Trump's own poll numbers.
Cuomo said he doesn't care what his viewers think, so long as they think, and then he laid out his theory on Trump's historically narrow polling range: "The intractability of the numbers where the president is involved I don't think is about the American people. I think it's about the expectations ... over time, the erosion of what people expect from public servants."
Cuomo explained that his father was New York's governor and his brother has that job now. "So I see that people in public service see the beauty in it," he said. "But we don't feel that anymore. I think that's why people forgive so much in this president. They don't expect better. ... That's why I think the numbers don't move. They can't be shocked, there is no sense of shame about what happens in public service. But we also don't reward virtue anymore. We have two parties that win by attacking the other, and that's a problem."
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"Why didn't you go into the family business?" Colbert asked. "Well, the main reason is because I don't like it," Cuomo said. He added that he wished his brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), would quit politics, enjoy his life, "and not worry about people like me, and these jackals that chase around politicians." They ended with a pushup contest. Watch below. Peter Weber
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