A day after saying "I don't like what I do professionally," the host notes he recently signed a new contract with the network.
On his radio show on Tuesday, CNN host Chris Cuomo clarified comments he made on Monday about his work as a cable news host.
"Coronavirus-stricken Chris Cuomo trashes CNN gig during radio show meltdown," the New York Post wrote on Monday night, after Cuomo told viewers, "I don’t like what I do professionally. I don’t think it’s worth my time.”
"It's not true," Cuomo said on Tuesday. "I never said it. I never meant it."
Cuomo, who announced on March 31 that he'd contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, praised the way the network has treated him.
"I have never been in a better position, professionally, than I am in right now," he told viewers. "They've been so good. They've been so supportive of me in ways I could never have imagined. ... I've never had a group of people professionally care about me the way they have shown. I'll never be able to repay them, but I'll try hard to do so. I've never been more grateful. I've never been on a better team."
Cuomo revealed to viewers that he recently signed a "long-term" contract extension, before the spread of the coronavirus.
"I love where I am, I love the position that I've been given, and I love who I'm doing it with. Those are all matters of fact for me," he said. "No place has ever been better to me. No place has ever given me the opportunities that [CNN president] Jeff Zucker has."
Still, the primetime host made clear to viewers that he is wrestling with existential questions about the role of television news and what he can bring to the medium, particularly amid the present hostility toward the media.
"It is frustrating to do this job in an environment where people are not interested and open," Cuomo said. "It is hard to practice journalism when people are so intent on believing what they want to believe for political advantage. It makes you question: Is it worth the effort? Can I make a difference? Can I personally make a difference? Is the way I'm doing this working?" ... I love where I am. I love what I do. That doesn't mean it isn't frustrating. I don't think it's ever mattered more than it has during that administration."
Cuomo criticized both the Post and CBS News for covering his comments yesterday, and predicted that media outlets would not cover his comments on Tuesday.
"Nobody will pick up what I'm saying right now because it doesn't fuel anything negative or provocative, so they won't pick it up, which will be making my point," he said.
