Oh, Brother! Chris Cuomo Has Some Truth Bombs to Drop

CHICAGO—NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo held court inside the United Center on Tuesday afternoon, his first Democratic convention since CNN showed him the door in 2021. Not seen with him: his brother Andrew Cuomo , once a party giant, now an outcast.

But will the elder Cuomo ever return to the political ring, as he’s oft-rumored to do? And does Chris think he should even try?

“I wish he would want to remove himself from that process, because of how ugly it is, how reductive it is,” the younger Cuomo told the Daily Beast. “He thinks I’m crazy and he doesn’t see anything that matters the way public service does. So that’s what's in his heart.”

Chris Cuomo—he of the badly built beach body—has a different passion, which may explain his return to media and convention chaos after years away. “I think I can help,” he said. “I also think it’s an ugly business, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not elected politics.”

The NewsNation star also criticized the Harris campaign for not being more accessible to journalists. He knows Vice President Kamala Harris promised an interview with a news outlet before the end of the month but said he didn’t “expect much” on his chances of getting one.

“I may be a Cuomo, but I’m still a member of the media,” he said. “I’m not an easy interview, so I don’t expect them to come to me early.”

And, he said: “Getting a big interview with Harris doesn’t really matter to me.”

With Friends Like These…

Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-mortal enemy Michael Cohen strolled around the United Center’s media row on Tuesday, loudly proclaiming his support for Harris. “I’ve been a Democrat my whole life, and I strongly endorse Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president,” he said.

Cohen seems to have forgotten he was actually Republican between March 2017 and October 2018, during which time he served as the GOP’s finance chair. But don’t expect him to join former GOP fixtures Adam Kinzinger and Stephanie Grisham onstage at the DNC.

“If they asked me to, I would love to,” he said. “The only problem is I use a lot of very foul language, and it probably wouldn't go over well.” That may not be the only problem, Michael?

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When Influencers Collide

Elsewhere on the United Center floor, 22-year-old influencer Parker Short recalled his feud on Monday with Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk inside the convention hall. Short went viral last month after a video of Kamala Harris’ Atlanta rally showed him breaking it down to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Kirk claimed to Short he was “here to just learn” before asking him “what is a woman.” “That is so f--kin’ weird, y’all,” Short shot back.

“You know, it’s ridiculous, it’s very silly,” Short told the Daily Beast the next day, his hands raised as he spoke of the skirmish. “I didn’t really expect to see him there. But, you know, I’m sick of these election deniers trying to tear down our Constitution, tear down our democracy.”

He added: “I am sick of this election-denying bulls--t, and I will call somebody out on it.”

Someone ’s Got a Crush on... err, J.B. Pritzker?

Speaking of influencers, the Daily Beast caught up with Hasan Piker , known on the internet as HasanAbi . Piker is a left-wing commentator with 2.7 million followers on Twitch, making him one of the platform’s biggest political stars. He previously made political headlines in 2020 when he played Among Us with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Piker, 33, told the Daily Beast that his stand-out moment at the convention so far was meeting journalist Amy Goodman . (The veteran Democracy Now! host is apparently big with the kids.)

“I cried a little bit,” he said. “It was embarrassing. But it was wonderful. She’s my GOAT.”

Piker said he was also excited to see one of the convention stars in the flesh.

“I wanna meet JB Pritzker, ” he said. “I want to see if he’s a real big boy. I feel like maybe he’s a fake big boy. Maybe he’s wearing a fat suit. I don’t know. I’m excited to test it out. Now that I said that, he’s definitely not going to interview [with] me.” Over to you JB...

We Found the Hot People not the Weirdos

Brat summer continued at Chicago’s Moonlight Studios Tuesday after the DNC’s main action finished, where Vocal Media hosted “Hotties for Harris.” Congressional staffers, TikTokers, and journalists alike—the median age being 35, at max —flocked to the venue for the pro-abortion rights party even before former President Barack Obama finished speaking. Jovial guests wore hats ranging from the sold-out camo Harris-Walz hat to one that read “demo(b)rat,” making the event one where people felt truly free to celebrate Biden’s defenestration.

Podcaster Liz Plank, of Vox and NBC fame, and her co-hosts decked out the space with pop art signs that declared “The end of SEX is NYE!” and “FREEDOMS END SOON!!! ACT NOW” should Trump and JD Vance win in November. “My Kink is Empathy!” another sign read.

While tunes from Charli XCX and Megan Thee Stallion blared, guests included Gen-Z Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost along with TikTokers like Grant & Ash (AKA “A Twink and a Redhead” ) and Harry Daniels , whose schtick is singing songs off-key to celebrities. (He sang Lana Del Rey ’s “National Anthem” to Joe Biden and Beyoncé ’s “Formation” to Harris .)

The 20-year-old from Long Island told the Daily Beast his DNC dream person to sing off-key to. “It'd be really cool to do Jack Schlossberg , for sure,” Daniels said. “I mean, I gotta do some Lana, right?”

Guests got to sip on coconut juice straight from “Hotties for Harris”-labeled coconuts (Daily Beast Rating: 3/10) and play games of whack-a-mole dedicated to whacking “weirdos” or a game of “Feminist Mini Golf,” with one course of the latter decked out in cat images. The event’s signature cocktails included the “Madam President’s Spicy ’Rita” and “A Walz on the Beach,” the latter meant for those “who can’t handle the spice.” (Walz shared his “white guy” spice aversion with Harris last week.)

Plank—decked out in a bucket hat, a black mesh T-shirt adorned with “Hotties for Harris,” and neon blue pants—told the Daily Beast the event went so viral that she had someone monitoring her phone to figure out who she could let in. (Guests on the RSVP list included comedian Roy Wood Jr . and HasanAbi, she said.)

“We saw Black women lead the charge with the zooms, then white women, Black men,” Plank said. “We were like, ‘What about hot people? Like, what about people who identify as hot?’”

One side of the studio hosted a “Wall of Weirdos,” including prints of painted images of Trump, Vance, and, obscurely, Larry Kudlow , among other conservative staples. ( Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. got their own painted “weirdo” prints, but Tiffany , Ivanka , and Barron were spared.)

Another wall had the “Hall of Hotties,” including prints of Harris, Walz, and—again, oddly—NFL star Jason Kelce . Travis and Taylor Swift ’s images didn’t make the cut, but those of Charli XCX, Ariana Grande , Olivia Rodrigo, and Beto O’Rourke did.

(Not pictured: Chief Hottie Megan Thee Stallion, whose fanbase name the group borrowed for the event. Plank said she thinks they extended an invite to her.)

Spotted…

Vogue correspondent Jack Schlossberg at the CNN-Politico Grill, with guest upon guest seeking photos with the convention’s hottest nepobaby. He wouldn’t take any questions—we tried. But he did speak to Jake Tapper and Dana Bash on CNN to reveal he met his hero when he walked into the DNC: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi .

As Tuesday evening’s roll call began, Trump-fan-turned-number-one-hater George Conway could be seen hurrying through the concourse wearing a brat-green Kamala pin . He marched into the CNN- Politico Grill alongside daughter Claudia Conway .

During the ceremonial roll call, celebrities who wanted to be part of history joined delegates on the stadium floor. In addition to a surprise performance from Lil Jon during Georgia’s turn at the mic, director Spike Lee stood alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul when she announced the Empire State’s votes. He was later spotted outside clutching a DOUG placard.

Not spotted…

Speaking of Chris Cuomo, his ex-bestie-turned-enemy Don Lemon is also at the convention. Strangely enough, neither has been spotted so far inside the CNN-Politico Grill or with each other. Lemon reportedly settled his lawsuit with the network in February to the tune of nearly $25 million, while Cuomo is still in litigation.

Get a Room, You Guys...

The Daily Beast revealed on Monday the burgeoning feud between the Washington Post ’s Taylor Lorenz, who was also at Hotties for Harris, and the New York Post ’s Jonathan Levine after he reported that she posted a selfie from the White House with “War Criminal :(” written under Biden. Lorenz—who is being investigated by WaPo execs over her conduct—told us she had not crossed paths with Levine this week despite a rumored meeting on Monday.

“My No. 1 opp,” she said. “I haven’t seen him.” Really, is it just ❤️?

Read more at The Daily Beast.