Chris Cuomo rips corporate influence at conventions

NewsNation host Chris Cuomo tore into what he described Wednesday as corporate influence at the Democratic National Convention and in party politics more generally.

“But there’s another reality that is literally looking down on them … look at the ring of suites, okay? This is not unique to Democrats. There is a game of money. When people talk about uniparty, we are strangled by the money reality in our politics,” Cuomo said as he reported late Wednesday from the convention floor in Chicago.

“Those suites start at [$500,000]. You think there’s like a teacher group up in there? You think it’s like the cub scouts of Columbia County, South Carolina, that’s up in those boxes? Some of them are lobbies and good things,” he added. “The media boxes, you think they are free?”

Cuomo, a former CNN anchor, now hosts a prime-time program on NewsNation, a cable news channel owned by broadcasting giant Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

“Why do you think I’m on the floor? NewsNation is not a broke company. Nexstar is a massive organization, we are corporate media,” he continued. “We don’t have one of those boxes because that’s the game. You pay to play.”

The anchor bemoaned what he described as a transactional relationship between powerful politicians and major corporations hoping to firm up business interests under a new presidential administration, though he did not name any companies specifically.

“Those boxes are filled with the same people that they say they’re going to regulate,” he said. “They are literally looking down on the faithful and being told, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’re going to break down on them. We’re going to make them pay their share.’ They paid [$500,000; $700,000; $1 million; $1.5 million] to have those seats, they get hotel suites that are probably gifted to the party.”

A feature of this week’s Democratic convention has been corporate price gouging and promises by the party’s top names to create a more equitable economy for working people.

Vice President Harris, who is slated to accept the party’s nomination for president Thursday evening, has proposed a ban on price gouging in an attempt to bring down the cost of groceries and other goods.

“The most dangerous money in politics in now legal money because of Citizens United,” Cuomo said Wednesday. “The idea that they can fight against it is almost laughable.”