Republican goes on Fox to complain about ‘big media’ not reporting Cuomo story broken by NYT

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is facing calls to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct

A Fox News anchor set the record straight for her colleague and former Republican Jason Chaffetz, who claimed that the New York Times has been holding back in its coverage of sexual assault allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

During a Fox News segment on Monday, Mr Chaffetz, who is now a Fox News contributor, hit out at The New York Times, saying it has been “far behind” in covering the swirling allegations regarding the Democrat politician.

“We will see what the media does. They’ve been very tepid in doing this,” Mr Chaffetz said on air. “Only the New York Post and a handful of others have covered this with a seriousness that it takes. The New York Times and other big, big media outlets have been far behind.”

He was immediately called out by Fox News’ Washington correspondent Gillian Turner, who interrupted to say that “the Times broke the most recent story.”

“We wouldn’t even be talking about it if it wasn’t for the New York Times reporting,” Ms Turner added. “Just pointing that out.”

In recent weeks, the Democratic governor of New York came under fire and faced calls to step down after three women came forward to level allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr Cuomo, including unsolicited kissing.

The New York Times first broke the story about Mr Cuomo’s former aide Charlotte Bennett, who alleged him of asking inappropriate questions about her sex life and said he was open to relationships with women in their 20s.

The scandal has been hotly debated by right-wing media channels lashing out on other media house accusing them of scant coverage on the allegations that have put Democrats on a tight spot.

After being slammed by his colleague, the former Republican corrected himself and said the news outlets he accused of being unfair were “very slow to the mark”.

The show was concluded by co-host Emily Compagno who said both of them were right in their arguments and lauded Fox News for the coverage.

Meanwhile, Mr Cuomo has said that his “playful” banter has been “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation” and asked to pick a lawyer for an independent investigation into the recent sexual misconduct allegations against him. He had earlier denied the allegations.