#Chris Cuomo on SiriusXM: CNN suspension ‘hurts’

Chris Cuomo was back on air Wednesday — albeit on his satellite radio show, where he told listeners “it hurts” to have been sidelined from his job as a CNN host.

Cuomo spoke for the first time since his suspension late Tuesday but offered no apology over the latest revelations about how he offered to use his cable news resources to try to stem the sexual harassment scandal that forced his brother to resign as governor.

He began his weekday talk show on SiriusXM radio with what he called “a quick note about the obvious — I’ve been suspended from CNN.”

After giving a big sigh, he said, “You know this already. It hurts to even say it. It’s embarrassing, but I understand it. And I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did.”

Cuomo, 51, then said, “I’ve apologized in the past. I mean it, the last thing I ever wanted to do was compromise any of my colleagues and do anything but help.”

But he quickly skipped over the spiraling scandal sparked by Monday’s release of official documents that show how he secretly contacted news industry “sources” for advance information about the sexual harassment allegations against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Instead, Chris Cuomo pivoted to CNN’s announcement that he’d been “indefinitely” suspended “pending evaluation” of the text messages and other material made public by state Attorney General Letitia James.

The network said the records “shed new light on Chris Cuomo’s involvement in his brother’s defense” and also “raise serious questions.”

“I know they have a process that they think is important. I respect that process,” he said Wednesday.

“So I’m not going to talk about this any more than that.”

Chris Cuomo then launched into a discussion of the abortion-related case that was argued before the US Supreme Court earlier Wednesday before saying that paid family leave would let fathers be more “involved.”

“Do you know that my wife was pregnant and had to move us into a new apartment while I was overseas?” he said.

And in a statement that his brother’s accusers would no doubt endorse, he added: “I suck.”

“Anyway, my point is: is men should want to be involved. They should have that opportunity,” he said.

In May, the Washington Post reported that Chris Cuomo had taken part in strategy sessions with his older brother’s aides and advisers, prompting CNN to say that his actions were “inappropriate” and that he wouldn’t “participate in such conversations going forward.”

Chris Cuomo later offered a qualified apology on his “Cuomo Prime Time” show, saying, “It was a mistake because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot.”

“I never intended for that, I would never intend for that and I’m sorry for that,” he added.

The incident sparked outrage over his obvious breach of journalistic ethics, with even fellow CNN anchor Jake Tapper saying, “I cannot imagine a world in which anybody in journalism thinks that that was appropriate.”