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Chris Cuomo to join NewsNation in return to TV news

CNN fired Cuomo in December after an investigation showed how he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, defend himself against sexual misconduct allegations.
Chris Cuomo in 2019.
Chris Cuomo in 2019.Mike Blake / Reuters via Alamy
/ Source: TODAY

Chris Cuomo is returning to TV news.

The former CNN anchor, who was fired in December from the network, is joining NewsNation. The outfit is owned by Nexstar Media, which owns television stations across the United States.

Cuomo on Tuesday appeared on NewsNation and spoke with anchor Dan Abrams in what was touted as Cuomo’s first media interview since leaving CNN last year.

In his comments, Cuomo said he believes there should be more middle-of-the-road political coverage because “this binary system is killing us.”

“And the media is trapped in it very often. You can’t be criticizing the game that you are a part of,” he said. 

CNN terminated Cuomo after an investigation showed how he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, defend himself against sexual misconduct allegations.

He is seeking a $125 million arbitration award, claiming the network wrongly terminated him, his legal team said in March. During his Tuesday night interview, he confirmed that’s still ongoing.

In his interview, Cuomo said he was “proud” of his time at CNN and that “it mattered more to me than I knew at the time when I was doing the job.”

In a prepared statement, he said he plans to cover “news wherever it happens” and to talk “solutions rather than political parties or the political circus.”

His comments echo the larger strategy of Nexstar’s fledgling cable-news outfit. The company touts itself as a more centrist outlet.

“I don’t think I can make a difference (in traditional network news),” Cuomo said on Tuesday night. “I think we need insurgent media. I think we need outlets that aren’t fringe and just trying to fill their pockets.”

He added that he is “going to try very hard to be fair” in his reporting.

In a statement to Variety, the Nexstar Media president of networks, Sean Compton, said that Cuomo is joining “our growing team of seasoned, award-winning journalists and will further our efforts to continue to ensure fairness and transparency in our news reporting and talk shows.”

NewsNation has also recently hired several other big name anchors from the competition — Leland Vittert from Fox, Ashleigh Banfield from CNN and Dan Abrams from ABC News and MSNBC, Variety reported.

Cuomo is slated to return to the airwaves full time in the fall.