Tucker Carlson has long surprised viewers by confronting issues and speaking with people that others would avoid. And in the current media landscape, the fact that he would sit for an extended conversation with a former cable news foe reinforces his unique abilities.
In a newly released clip, Carlson spoke with former CNN host Chris Cuomo, laying aside their previous battles of words and ideas to genuinely learn from one another in today’s divided society.
Carlson kicked off the lengthy interview in Episode 80 on the Tucker Carlson Network by recounting to viewers how he had been “incredibly mean” to Cuomo who is currently on NewsNation after his firing from CNN. Carlson admitted that Cuomo “was one of the first people” who called him after his own firing from Fox News last year.
Cuomo admitted he is “still trying to figure it out” after losing his CNN show and getting “shitcanned” by CNN in 2021 as the two spoke in the wide-ranging interview.
Ep. 80 The Chris Cuomo Interview pic.twitter.com/bEnFxnpx9U
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 11, 2024
“You’re tougher than I am. Not physically, I would literally twist you like a band-aid,” Cuomo said, causing Carlson to burst into laughter.
“But you have more resilience about this than I did,” Cuomo, whose brother Andrew Cuomo was the former Democrat governor of New York.
“I still feel like I’m on one knee and getting back up, and what motivated me to come back was two things– three things. One, my wife told me I had to. Two, she was like, ‘You gotta get up and, you know, we’ve got kids, you’ve gotta get up, you’ve got to do something with your life that is helping people and making something of this place. That’s what we’re supposed to be about. You are not about that right now. You’re a space rug right now. That’s what you are, you’re a 230-pound lump on the floor. Get up, do something with your life,'” he recounted.
“My response was that I was embarrassed and I knew she was right, but sometimes you know what’s right but you don’t have the energy, the will, or the self-confidence or belief to do it,” the NewsNation host admitted.
He addressed those who criticized him for appearing with Carlson, denouncing him for essentially “crossing a line” in having a friendly conversation with the conservative.
“Says who? Says you in the media who also cast me out?” Cuomo demanded.
“It doesn’t make any sense, except if you’re just playing a stupid game that has rules about who you’re supposed to like and who you’re not supposed to like, and I’m not gonna be that for two reasons. One, it’s a stupid game, and two, I lost that game,” he told Carlson.
The extended conversation also addressed the current political climate and divisions preventing progress.
“Nobody talks to each other anymore,” Cuomo said. “You’ve got politicians resigning because they say, ‘Yeah, it turns out, nobody really wants us to do anything here but fight, and I’ve kind of had enough, and I’m going to go.’ I mean, who ever thought we would see any of this? And yet nobody’s trying to remedy it.”
