FOX's Janice Dean slams Cuomo brothers for 'trainwreck' interview, accuses them of laughing while people die
Controversial banter between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his journalist brother Chris Cuomo on CNN earlier this week has gone down like a lead balloon in some quarters. Janice Dean -- a senior meteorologist with Fox News -- whose parents-in-law died from the deadly coronavirus, which has claimed almost 100,000 lives in the US, is one of those not amused. On Thursday, May 21, Dean told Fox’s Tucker Carlson that she was outraged at the conversation between the Cuomos and felt compelled to speak out after the brothers joked about the size of the older sibling’s nose.
It was on Wednesday, May 20, when Governor Cuomo described -- on CNN’s ‘Cuomo Prime Time’ presented by his brother -- how he was tested for coronavirus during his daily press briefing last Sunday, May 17. The governor underwent the test to assuage public fears that the test is painful. Chris joked in response saying Andrew had a big nose and needed a nasal swab of a baseball-bat size for the test.
The light mood didn’t impress people like Dean, especially after it was revealed that a New York state directive required nursing homes to accept Covid-19 patients discharged from the hospital, causing more outbreaks and deaths. New York is the worst-hit state in the US with more than 28,000 dead. The city of New York has also been badly hit with at least 16,000 lives lost.
Dean upset with administration after her in-laws died in nursing home
Dean was particularly aghast because her parents-in-law passed away in a nursing home in New York state. She said the elderly couple, Michael and Dolores Newman, died from Covid-19 after they were exposed to the virus in nursing homes. Michael, an Air Force veteran and former NYC firefighter, was admitted into a nursing home after apparently suffering from dementia.
According to Dean, they came to know a week before Michael’s death that the nursing home was moving him to another floor. She said she suspected that floor was used to keep recovering Covid-19 patients. Dean also added that her husband was informed that his father died just three hours after he was told that he wasn’t feeling well. She also said that Covid-19 was shown as the cause of the veteran’s death. Dolores also had the same fate after she was rushed to hospital two weeks later where she passed away due to Covid-19 infection. The elderly couple was married for 59 years.
Dean, during her talk with Carlson, said she agreed to give the interview after she saw the Cuomo brothers having a nice laugh on air when serious reports about the state administration’s policy on nursing homes allegedly resulting in myriad deaths, were doing the rounds.
“Twenty per cent of our lost loved ones are from nursing homes…because Governor Cuomo and several other governors forced COVID-recovering patients into nursing homes,” she said.
“The fact that I am seeing, last night, him…making fun, inappropriate jokes and insensitive jokes, cruel jokes … make no mistake. I am glad that Chris Cuomo has recovered from COVID because he apparently did have it. And I’m glad that their family is well, but my family is not well. And that is not something to joke about,” she said. Chris himself was also diagnosed with coronavirus a couple of months ago but recovered.
Dean found support on social media where a number of voices slammed CNN and the Cuomo brothers.