The Chris Cuomo Project - Donald Trump Selling Bibles: Controversy or Nontroversy?

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

Chris Cuomo dives into recent major news stories to determine whether they highlight real controversies or nontroversies, including Donald Trump’s sales pitch for the $59.99 God Bless the USA Bible, Ronna McDaniel’s hiring and ouster by NBC News, and the approval of a congestion pricing plan that will impact drivers in New York City. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is selling Bibles with the American flag on it and copies of the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. I mean, he is throwing everything at you in what is an absolutely crass play. But will it make a difference or is that just who this guy is? There's no bottom.

And what are we to make of what happened with the former RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel at MSNBC? I mean, they seem to be taking this high minded stance that like there's a line and she is like described as being a mobster or a thief and you wouldn't hire someone like that. Is that how they want the tens of millions of Trump supporters who actually have misgivings about the 2020 election? Is that how they want them to think they see them? Isn't this the deplorables thing all over again? I think a huge opportunity was wasted. And there was a huge message sent that may be the end of MSNBC.

So, controversies or nonttraversies all. Let us discuss with me, Chris Cuomo, and the one, the only, thank the Lord, Greg Ott. How are you? I'm good, how are you? Producer and daddy-to-be. Well, you said thank the Lord. Let's put our hand to that Trump Bible, huh? PTL, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, the one and only. We can start with that story Producer and daddy to be. Well, you said, thank the Lord. Let's put our hand to that Trump Bible, huh? PTL, praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, the one and only. We can start with that story and I'm good. How are you doing? You seem to be, why don't you tell the audience about your long COVID journey and how all that's going. Dr. Robin Rose is helping me. I believe that. Today is not a great day.

Feel very histamine-y. Could just be allergies, but I'm taking all the stuff, changed the diet, lost some bloat, doing the workouts, I'm doing as I'm told, I'm off the sauce, because if you're trying to fight inflammation, why would you be using alcohol when it's such an inflammatory agent? So it's going along, you can check it out on the Substack

and see my journey and ask questions to me and to my doctor, the chrisquamoproject.substack.com. Well, with that, let's launch into the controversy, non-traversy. The first one you mentioned, this is New York Times. Trump's newest venture, a $60 Bible. His Bible sales pitch comes as he appears to be confronting a significant financial squeeze with his legal fees growing

while he fights a number of criminal cases and lawsuits. They go on to say that Mr. Trump is not selling the Bible. He is getting royalties from purchases according to a person familiar with the details of the business arrangement. And this Bible itself is called the God Bless the USA Bible, 5999. Easy to read, large print and slim design.

This Bible invites you to explore God's word anywhere, anytime. Before, I guess you couldn't take a Bible with you. It was very hard. I know, as opposed to any other book. I know, this seems very convenient. You can hold it in your hand. First of all, now a key in there is,

he's not selling the book, he's getting royalties. I wonder, there must be some legal deal in there about your ability to sell the Bible. There must be something in there that he's finding a way around through a royalty deal. I mean, the idea of getting royalties on the Bible, you would think, I don't know. It's a pretty old book the last time I checked.

But remember, what's the key here? There is no shame in his game, and this is proof of it. Nobody else would do this. And it's not because they don't care about the Bible. Please, be fair. Trump doesn't even don't care about the Bible. Please be fair. Trump doesn't even know what's in the Bible. Okay, you've seen the clips of him when he's pretending to know what's in it.

And it's laughable. And again, I don't care. I don't care about how encyclopedic your knowledge is of the Bible as a composition. It doesn't matter to me. But the play is a very interesting one. He is betting on you falling for every kind of symbology there is.

And forget about the irony of putting the Bible with our formation documents that do not talk about the Bible or religion or God in any real way because we're a secular state. No we're not. We were created as a Christian nation. Listen, these cats knew nothing but Christianity as founding fathers and they still took pains to make sure that it does not come across like that at all.

And look, I was raised Christian. I was raised Catholic. I choose to have faith. That's not what this is about, okay? And if it's like, well, you're not a believer, you're no better than me. Whether you're a believer or whether you're not, because let me tell you something else.

There are a lot of you believers out there with the little crucifixes next to your names and your bios, and you act like dogs online? So you don't live it. So if you don't live it, I don't want to hear that you're a believer because the faith is nothing if it's not put into practice. However, we are not a Christian nation. We are a nation with a lot of Christians.

That number is going down on a regular basis. But if you don't live it, it doesn't matter. They took pains to create separation of church and state because of what they lived through in Europe and specifically the UK, they were sensitive to it. So there is something awkward about combining secular documents with the Bible. This is not a Christian nation,

but that is the suggestion from Trump, which I find to be an obnoxious one. But on top of that, it's just so classless to take these things that matter so much and bundle them together to pay for your lawsuit for paying off a porn star. Well, just to be clear, the 59.99 does not include shipping and tax.

Oh, well, I changed my opinion. In the video he posted to sell the thing, he goes on to say, religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country. We must make America pray again. First of all, I'm all for prayer. I'm all for positive intentionality.

I believe in the power of positive thinking. I believe in the projection of intentionality. I love that the Hello app is blowing up. I did it on the show at News Nation, 18 and a half million downloads, 473 million prayers accessed. It's like the new form of meditation. And really prayer at its essence is meditative.

One of my priest buddies and mentors had a great line with me. He was like, boy, there's two kinds of prayers. Help me, help me, help me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And that that's what people fall into. And it's so funny, cause I know that's how I am. Now I say the same set of prayers every night

because I think they're gonna come true. No, I think it's setting intentions about what mattered to me. And, and I do have one little faith-based hook in it. And I know that the president, the former president, Trump does not share this. I believe that so much of my life is a function of what Christians call grace, okay?

And you're like, Christians? No, it's an English word, we all use it. Not the way we do. It is God's forgiveness of you and what you do absolutely without any regard for whether or not you deserve it. It is an enormous concept. And that's why Holy Week and Easter is so huge,

especially for Catholics. Catholics have during their mass, the body and blood of Christ and there's a whole communal right. Yeah, I was raised Catholic and my mom wouldn't let me drink the wine. Well, there's a certain age where they want you to start doing it, but they changed that

and now you don't even have to drink it at all, but it doesn't matter. Here's what does matter. In all of the Protestant churches, that is what it seems like, which is a metaphor. This is symbolism of Jesus's sacrifice, not for Catholics. It's called transubstantiation. And they believe that this is actually happening.

And that's where the phrase hocus pocus comes from. You ever hear somebody say this kind of, this nonsense, this hocus pocus. Hic est meum corpus is the beginning of the communal right. This is my body. So people have been making fun of it for a long time. My point is it matters a lot to Catholics specifically. So does grace.

Grace is this enormous concept that Jesus gave his own life to forgive our sins. That that's how powerful the love is, is that he was gonna give his own life the way all of us always talk about it. I give my life for my kid, I give my life for my wife, I give my life for my country. Some people do, most just talk.

But that idea in my life, and I know the former president doesn't believe this because we've heard him discuss how he doesn't believe this because we've heard him discuss how he doesn't believe that anything is responsible for his success in life except him. He gets all the credit, he did it all, he's everything. Okay, I believe in grace

and I think I'm a huge beneficiary of it and I think I really need it. I'm incredibly dependent on it. So I pray about that, love prayer, love the power of it. He doesn't pray. Now, he may say he does, but he'll be lying. How do you know? Because I know people around him who have heard him mock the idea. Does that matter? No. A little bit of it is

political solicitation. I think most people in public office who are trying to sell you on virtue generally fall short or keeping something from you. But that's politics. That's salesmanship. It's solicitation. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. Okay? I tell you the least necessary about anything to do with me, only for purposes of transparency. I will never put it on you. I do not care what you believe in. I do not think you need to believe in anything bigger than yourself to be a good person. Is it helpful? To me, yes. Can I prove it to you that it's real? Absolutely not. I'll lose the debate 10 out of 10 times. It's not what it's about for me.

It's a choice. Oh, so you choose to believe in something that you can't prove? Yeah, I do. It's faith. That's my choice. You don't have to respect it. I know many people don't.

I get it. I get it. I'm not arguing with you. But doing this is playing on what matters most to people. It's conflating two things that should not be conflated. And it is done just for profit to pay for things that he supposedly should have the money to do for himself. Is it a controversy?

No, no, it's a non-traversy because it's just the truth about who he is and what he's about. And if you don't see this for what it is, then I can't help you, but I can guarantee I know who you're voting for in the next election. You know, he once sold a Trump cologne. Trump steaks.

Yeah. Trump water. Trump vodka, he doesn't even drink. Trump vodka. Yeah. He's a salesman and he's a good one. But you know, I do have to say, I just told somebody this the other day,

they were trying to get me to help them understand the Trump phenomenon and it is a phenomenon. What is motivating you guys to support him in eight out of 10 cases is legitimate and honorable. The grievance, the fear, the animus, the disaffection, the disgust at what's happening in government and with how our society is working and how you feel that you're treated and your kids and values.

I get it, I get it. I just dispute your choice of agent for that animus. And I see Donald Trump not as the antidote, he's a virus that you guys want to inject into the political corpus to make it sick and change because you're mad at it. You into the political corpus to make it sick and change, cause you're mad at it. You want the political corpus, you want that body to feel pain,

to be sick and to change, cause it's been making you sick. He is a human middle finger to the rest of the establishment. I get it. I just wish you had picked somebody who would actually put the policies into place, not be forced to,

not just be the lowest bar of those policy choices. I just think that there are better people out there, but where I'm wrong is, no, there aren't better people who make you feel that you have somebody who hates what you hate and are as much into disruption as you are as he does. And his kids won't check that box, and there's nobody else who tries to be like him

who can check it. That's why Ramaswamy got booted out of the race. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from Sundaes. This fresh dog food made from a short list of human grade ingredients works. Sundays was founded, co-founded by Dr. Tori Waxman, a practicing vet who tests and formulates every version of each recipe. I wonder if they eat it themselves.

I hope not. Anyway, my dogs on video will show you how they savage this food. And I have already been changing up the food to get more sustainable types of food. But here's what I love about this, okay? This is delivered as kibble. And let me tell you something, it is a game changer because my fridge is not stuffed with dog food, Chinese entree trays where, you know, I'm worried that my son is gonna grab one

and eat it up one night thinking it's meatloaf and it may be human grade, but I don't want my kid eating it. You know what I mean? So the beautiful thing about this is it's easier to store. It's easier to store, it's easier to feed, and I know the ingredients are right and my dogs love it and I know it's better for them. So you want to get 40% off your first order of Sundays? Go to sundaysfordogs.com slash Chris or use the code Chris at checkout. The Chris Cuomo Project is supported by all American assets. Why?

Because you need somebody to help you make the decisions. What do I do to get away from the markets? Should I just put my money in a tin can? No. But what you can do is hold physical gold and silver. And I'm not just talking about burying it in a chest like some pirate. You can put it in your 401k. You can put it in your 401k.

You can put it in your IRA. Most people only think that you can get stocks, right? You know, maybe some bonds or something like that. But you didn't know that you could invest in your retirement accounts with these types of investments. Hard, silver, hard, gold. All American Assets offers a wide selection of different gold and silver products all delivered right to your door or to a depository in safe, discreet, fully insured packaging.

And if you got a 401k from a previous employer or if you got an IRA, an IRA, you can just roll it over into physical gold and silver. You can also make a purchase with cash and fund your account by sending a check or wire. Now is the opportune moment. Start investing in precious metals, safeguarding your savings against these volatile markets. Visit AllAmericanAssets.com for your free gold and silver investment guide. Or go and call 888-390-2522. And you can learn how to turn your paper savings into gold literally.

Again, 888-390-2522 or visit allamericanassets.com. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning. Which beats even the 27th best feeling, saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number best feeling, saying I do. Who wants his last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling, winning, in an exciting live dealer studio, exclusively on FanDuel Casino,

where winning is undefeated. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit kinexontario.ca. Please play responsibly. Next. This to me is the ultimate Chris Cuomo project story. And I feel like this touches on so much

of what you talk about on this program, on your NewsNation program. Semaphore says, NBC braces for the backlash to the backlash after hiring and firing top Republican. NBCUniversal's news division announced Friday it had hired Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor who were to pair on NBC and MSNBC. On Tuesday, NBCUniversal News Group chief Caesar Conde announced that he decided to end the network's deal with McDaniel after an open revolt by his stars over hiring someone who played a role in

Donald Trump's attempt to contest the 2020 election he lost. over hiring someone who played a role in Donald Trump's attempt to contest the 2020 election he lost. But while the abrupt reversal was cheered by some MSNBC staff, other NBC News journalists said they believe the move will only continue to strengthen complaints by Republicans that the network doesn't want to hear their perspectives. Controversy, non-troversy, and how do you take this entire, I mean, this, this you've, you've been in this industry for so long. Like what, what can you say? Highly controversial on a number of levels. First of all, very surprised by the management there

that they would let the on-camera people have this kind of power. I've never seen anything like it in the open. It shows complete disrespect for the management. So if you, if you were at News Nation and they said, you've had Mike Lindell on your show before, right? If they're like, we have Mike Lindell on, you can't imagine yourself saying,

we can't put this guy on TV. To them? Yeah. Maybe. To you, through this? Never. Shows complete disrespect for your outlet. Complete disrespect. Now, does that mean that I don't respect

the basis of your opinion? No, but I'm saying you embarrassed them. You made them look bad. And they obviously believe that they were playing to a higher principle. That takes us to point number two, are they? They have plenty of people, probably more than most on MSNBC that come out of politics

and are there roosted there, right? Now they're most famous, they're best ever. Cause really, even their big star now, Rachel Maddow, she's a partisan. I mean, she can talk about journalism and all that, but she's a partisan, she's a lefty. So we're already expanding the idea of journalism there. And I think she's very smart.

I think she's really good. I think she's really good. I call her the professor for a reason. I think she makes a great case for you guys on the left. Absolutely. But the point that they're making here, the principle, is that, well, she's not like Jen Psaki or Nicole Wallace or Lawrence O'Donnell or any of the other ones. Because literally almost the whole thing

is political operatives. Even Hayes worked for a lefty newspaper, magazine. Joe Scarborough was a congressman, you know what I mean? But not like this. She was part of an attempt to overthrow the election. Okay, is that fair-ish? It's fair-ish. She certainly didn't try to stop it. She was certainly on the phone with Trump. She was certainly telling people not to certify.

Now she says it was a good faith effort to have the questions answered that she believed were legitimate. Now, do you believe that? It's up to you. Obviously at MSNBC, they do not. Mato likened her to a mobster, to a thief, that you wouldn't hire a mobster if you were at the DA's office. Well, first of all, you ain't the DA, okay? You're not in the justice business. You're not.

You're in the opinion business. You're in the solicitation business. You're in the sales business. You're in the information business. You're in the persuasion business. you're not in the justice business. Nobody anointed you to tell people what's legal and illegal, moral or immoral. Okay? Now, you can have your own ideas and opinions about it, but you do not have that authority

for the rest of society. So the principle involved here is that she takes it too far. Okay, I think you probably win that argument. I think you probably win that argument. All right? I do. Why? Because they tried to do things that are far beyond anything we've seen in politics before. Okay. So then it was the right decision to stand up and say, get rid of her. I don't agree. And I would be fine with her being part of News Nation. Why? Because I see an amazing opportunity in it.

You have 70 something million people voted for Trump, right, last time. I've never seen a poll that puts the number at less than 50% of that group, believing that there were problems with the 2020 election. So you just told at a minimum 50% of 74 million people, you're a fucking idiot. And whatever you think is wrong and stupid

and beneath the contempt of conversation. That's the message. Well, no, we said it's not about being Trump. That's the message. Well, no, we said it's not about being Trump. Yeah, it is. Yes, it is. That's how it reads. I'm telling you, I agree with your argument

that she did things that goes far beyond just being a political partisan. I get you. I'm telling you that's the message. I've heard nothing else from that part of the political spectrum. And I see an amazing opportunity that you've given up. I would love to sit with McDaniel and say, okay.

And by the way, the only weird thing about this is that they hired her and she's not even, I'm not saying that the great get with her is that she's this great lens into Trump land. Trump doesn't like her. There are different reasons for why he doesn't like her that I've heard. I don't know which is true, but she's not your key. It's actually not Corey Lewandowski or Dave Bossie or one of these people who actually knows what's going on in Trump land. I don't think she does, but I see another value in her to sit down with her and go through every basis as they become relevant about

what happened in 2020. And now that she's not carrying water for them specifically, for her to admit through the vote came forward and said they don't have any of the proof and these affidavits and supporting documents that they had said they had, they don't have them. And that what you saw as a video where they were stuffing ballots, that's not what that was. And it was part of a coordinated dump off that they had done with Republican and Democratic officials.

That's a great opportunity for the tens of millions. Now, look, I know a lot of them are just choosing to believe it because it justifies their anger that he lost, but there are a lot of them who may be open. No, Chris, you're wrong. It's a cult. I don't agree. So, I saw a great opportunity there. And look, that's the job.

Look, she let Hillary Clinton and other people come on, Rachel Maddow, and say to her that the Russians basically determined the 2016 election. She basically told people, you take the vaccine, you don't get COVID. You know, those were wildly inaccurate things also that need to be checked. People make mistakes, people get things wrong, and it gives you an opportunity to check them in real time

with one of their own. They hate us. This is one of their own. Yeah, Trump's a little sideways with her, but she's still a Republican. And she's a fully minted Republican. And it was a great opportunity and they threw it away. And now they look like a hyper lefty organization

that picks winners and losers and that has an agenda. And I don't think that agenda is gonna wash as truth. I don't think so. And that may be fair or unfair to these people. I'm not bashing MSNBC, but I do not agree with how they handled this. And I think they missed an opportunity. Briefly, what would you say about the compensation

somebody like that, like an analyst like that would get? Would you be, is it an analyst? Is that what the job was? No, she would be a contributor. A contributor, okay. So it's been reported she would get around 300 grand for that job. NBC News, according to the deadline,

had double digit layoffs earlier this year, impacting all sorts of employees in the news division. What would you say to people who say, why are we hiring somebody like this for her access? Market sets the price. Market sets the price. Talent always makes more than the people who actually make the donuts.

It's a constant source of tension. Maddow's making 30 something million. You know what I mean? She takes a $10 million cut. Guess how many jobs they'd save? You know what I'm saying? Quite a few, yeah. So I'm saying about what I make.

So people being outraged about the money. Maddow makes a hundred times what she makes. And by the way, NBC is gonna pay her all that money, 600 grand. They're gonna pay her that. And they may wind up paying her more if she sues because they destroyed her reputation with a lot of people. Now you'll say, no, they didn't.

They just told the truth about her. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know that that's how a tribunal would see it. But the money is a little bit of a red herring. This is kind of a New York specific thing, but it speaks to a global issue. This is from NBC4 New York,

MTA board okays congestion pricing plan, paving way for $15 tolls and ups starting this summer. Passenger vehicles will be charged $15, trucks will be charged anywhere from 24 to 36, depending on size, and motorcycles will be charged 750. So the city is rolling out this congestion pricing plan to come to reduce the amount of traffic coming into the city and to fund the MTA, the train system here in New York.

Is this a controversy or a non-troversy? It's a controversy. So I am in favor of this. I saw it work in London and it worked well for them to kind of- Because they rolled that up many years ago, right? Yes, cut down some of the traffic. Oh, but it's prohibitive.

There's an accommodation, okay? The money is only there if you're not willing to carpool and take the mass transit into the city. Is it a pain in the ass? A little bit, but so is the traffic, okay? It like ruins your day, the traffic. Here's the problem. Full disclosure, Andrew Cuomo, my brother,

when governor was part of passing congestion pricing. Right now, I don't like congestion pricing. I just said I like it, I know. But right now, I don't know that I trust the mass transit. You're bringing in the National Guard, National Guard aren't police. They're not gonna make the subway safer. You've bringing in the National Guard, National Guard armed police, they're not gonna make the subway safer. You've got to bring back cops.

You've got to bring back accountability to criminality. You got to change bail reform and give judges discretion. You have to do those things. And then I'm for congestion pricing. Right now, I think you're asking people to take too big a risk to take mass transit. I mean, I took the train here. I don't like, I was at the, I forget which station it was,

but there are no, there's no wall to stand against. It's like two open platforms and then just like pillars in the center. At the platform near my house, I can like hang back on the wall, but like I find myself looking around my shoulder more often than I ever have. Yeah, it's because there are tons of robberies,

tons of muggings, tons of mentally ill people who happen to have violent tendencies, most don't, but we're not taking care of them. We're not getting the criminals off the street. We're letting them right back on. And we keep seeing what's happening. And hopefully the elections will bring in people who want to change it.

But right now I think congestion pricing is a good idea, but not if you can't keep people safe on mass transit. Well, the MTA says, the MTA has insisted that it's merely implementing a state law aimed at cleaning the air and modernizing mass transit. Wouldn't you imagine that some of this money could go towards things that might make this mass transit

a little bit safer? Like I've seen them install these yellow barriers. Cops, cops, cops, cops, make this mass transit a little bit safer? Like I've seen them install this like yellow barriers. Cops, cops, cops, cops putting people in prison who break the law, that's what makes it safer. That's what has always made it safer. Now, when you say break the law, are you talking about like even minor offensive,

like fare evasion, like somebody like sneaking in? There is a controversy about whether or not the broken windows policy, okay, works. Now I believe from my research and understanding, it does. Why? You don't get someone who jumps a turnstile and ruin their life. I don't even believe you get somebody who two, three kids,

punk kids, mug me, good luck, on the subway, and although you know what, if I'm with anyone I care about and you have a weapon, you're gonna get whatever you want from me. So you ruin their lives. I don't think that's right either. But you don't do them any favors by not punishing them for it also. And the data absolutely shows that people that get away

with small crimes graduate to bigger crimes. So yes, I think that you process criminals as you find them. And if they're young, you treat them like they're young. But if you just give them a pass and you let everybody right back out of jail, you're gonna have spiking criminality. And you know how I know? Because that's what we're doing and we have spiking criminality. You know, the reason I'd like to ride the subway with you, I never have. I've never seen you on the subway, but you don't seem like, you seem like you'd be somebody

who'd get up for a, like a pregnant woman, or you're not a man spreader. I feel like you'd be very respectful on the train. I'm a man spreader because I've got thick thighs. That doesn't matter because everybody's using the Omni now. You tap your watch against nobody, that means old. Not me. Okay, that's your, you can lose that and you're out of your fare. I don't wear a watch, you know why? I got wrists is old. Okay, that's your problem. You can lose that and you're out of your fare.

I don't wear a watch. You know why? I got wrists like a Java man. That's why. But I- You can put that away. That is nobody's using that anymore. Everybody taps their phone.

I use it. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm generalizing, but- I use it. Not you hipster chic. Hipster chic. It comes with the phone.

And by the way, you know what happens when you pull out your phone? Somebody steals the phone. That's exactly right. And that's why I got the AppleCare theft and loss. If they take the phone, Tim Cook ships me a new one. Prepares to be a victim, not the Mo Man. Not the Mo Man.

Controversy or non-troversy, you tell us. I love the conversation. Thank you for following and subscribing here at The Chris Cuomo Project. I'd love it more without ads. Go to the Substack, thechriscuomoproject.substack.com. Five bucks a month, tough to beat it. You get this without ads, you get it sooner, and you get all the access to my long COVID conversations

and the emerging wellness practices that my doctor and my wife and others are getting me into that you can do as well. And you can get direct access to me there. Also, you can check me out at News Nation, 8P11P, every week, day, night. Thank you so much for giving us a shot. You can also do News Nation through the app.

And if you have questions for me and you want to get time with me face to face, go to the Manect me face to face, go to the Manect app, Amazon Mike I-N-N-E-C-T, all right? Manect app. Download it. Great experts there. I'm one of them. My friend, there's only one attitude to have in this life. Let's get after it. You