CNN host Chris Cuomo was mocked on Twitter Thursday for a failed attempt to disprove President Trump’s claim that he’s never been able to overhear other people’s nearby phone calls.
The president earlier Thursday sent out a tweet trying to debunk impeachment testimony by witness David Holmes, who said he overheard a damning July 26 phone call between Ambassador Sondland and Trump.
Cuomo, in a bid to prove Trump wrong, called his mom on air, first without the speakerphone on, in an attempt to show viewers and his co-hosts that they’d be able to hear.
“Let’s just play with that for a second. Mom, can you hear me?” asks Cuomo while holding his phone out in front of him.
Following a moment of awkward silence, he moved the phone toward CNN journalist Dana Bush.
“Can you just say hello?” Cuomo asks, as the two sit idly for several seconds without a response.
Cuomo then flips on the speakerphone, at which point his mom’s voice is audible.
Following the failed stunt, another co-host notes, “I can’t hear your mother, Chris. You’re over there … I’m sitting across the table.”
Critics on Twitter were quick to follow.
Joe Concha, a reporter for The Hill, wrote Cuomo’s stunt was “the most ill advised thing we’ve witnessed on live TV since Marcia Clark had OJ try the gloves on.”
Another user joked: “Cohosts couldn’t hear, it’s time to clear!”