A battle of words has raged in political columns around the country. It has asked the vital question of national interest: Who is more Fredo, Andrew or Chris Cuomo?

For bumbling ineptitude my money was on Andrew. But, not for this first time, I was in the minority. Greg Gutfeld makes a good case for Chris and for Clemenza he virtually nominates Brian Stelter. I don’t see why Gutfeld is so hard on Clemenza. At any rate, Gutfeld took on the two and CNN earlier this week over the blatant conflict of interest in letting Chris advise and interview his brother almost to the end.

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Gutfeld: Well, they’re handling his brother – the crisis intervention specialist – with kid brother gloves. They sent out that mound of flesh, Captain Pop-n-Fresh, to attempt a cleanup. I wonder – does Chris Cuomo have a lot to say!

Brian Stelter, CNN, Sunday: Chris Cuomo has a lot to say, but right no he cannot say.  CNN management has made 2 things clear to him. One – that he can’t talk about his brother Andrew Cuomo on TV and two that he cannot participate in any more strategy sessions with the governor’s aides. Well, that’s convenient. Imagine if CNN used that on everyone. Yeah, he did something totally inexcusable, but we told him to stop. Wait they did use it — with Jeffrey Toobin! So I guess it works.

But think about it – a news anchor helping an embattled governor to craft responses for an alleged news outlet like CNN. We always knew Dems and the mainstream media were in bed together, but we didn’t know it was incest! And CNN’s response? “Don’t do that anymore. And also, don’t talk to anyone either!!” Two things I was once told at an orgy by Tom Shillue.

And come on – remember that horrible kissing montage? Talk about a super spreader. Something only a TV person would come up with. I couldn’t tell if I was watching Cuomo’s press briefing, or a hot tub episode of “The Bachelor.” In all his seasons of hosting “Family Feud,” Richard Dawson didn’t slobber on as many people as Cuomo has. But montages are straight from the TV playbook.

And I put money on Chris for pushing the idea. Hell, he told me to do one for this segment! The good news? Stelter then said he talked to his sources…. And not the ones at Arby’s. Still, I bet he got some exclusive facts!

Brian Stelter, CNN, Sunday: This week I have been doing reporting on the media angle of this Cuomo story, which has meant talking to staffers here at CNN about Chris Cuomo and his one-of-a-kind situation – TV star in primetime, governors brother all the time.  Now let’s just be candid with each other, his staffers I am talking with are my colleagues of course and I assured them they can speak anonymously and candidly. What I found was a more complicated story than you might think. This has been a conundrum for CNN – that has no perfect answer, no perfect solution.  Some think CNN made it worse by letting Chris interview his brother when COVID was ravaging New York.

Oh, you think so? Yeah, I would venture that waving around a giant q-tip while thousands of elderly are dying in New York nursing homes is probably not making it better. I guess you could have done worse, right?