Chris Cuomo Blasts Norah O'Donnell for Reading Suspect's Manifesto to Donald Trump: 'She Liked the Idea of a Free Shot!'

Chris Cuomo slammed CBS News anchor Norah O'Donnell's decision to read excerpts from the manifesto of Cole Tomas Allen, the suspected White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter, during her 60 Minutes interview with President Donald Trump on April 26.

Cuomo criticized the move as "poor form," accusing the network of treating the "deranged rantings" of an allegedly homicidal individual as "verbatim fact" simply to target the president.

On his podcast, Cuomo suggested that O'Donnell and CBS used the manifesto to take a "free shot" at Trump, claiming it was a calculated attempt to gain "shine" from colleagues and critics rather than a pursuit of objective journalism.

“It’s okay for CBS to have crazy talk from a crazy man read as verbatim fact. Why? Because they like sticking it to Trump. Norah O’Donnell liked the idea of the free shot! Why? All her friends would applaud!” he exclaimed.

Cuomo continued his rant against the CBS star, saying, “When he jumped her, what did she do? ‘Oh, you think it’s about you?’ What? What is that? And now people are trying to say, ‘Oh, that was so clever.’ Why was it clever? Of course, it’s about him. She was backing off from it because she didn’t like getting hit! Norah wants the shine. She does not want the smoke ... She’s not built for that.”

Cuomo argued that media outlets apply a double standard to Trump, questioning why the tactic was praised as "clever" when it involved repeating extreme accusations from a "sick man.”

The former CNN host’s comments provoked social media backlash.

“Chris, I thought you were coming around to at least have some common sense. Sadly, you don’t,” said one follower.

“Chris is such a clown...he throws red meat out to whichever side he's in the mood to please ...he hates Trump & MAGA ... he'll get his clicks & the clueless will think he's changed!” said another.

During her interview, O'Donnell questioned Trump regarding specific, highly charged claims from the shooter's Instagram manifesto in which he admitted, “I am no longer willing to permit a p-------, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”

While O’Donnell never said it was specifically written about him, Trump pounced on her, vehemently denying he was a rapist and a p-------.

The visibly agitated president reacted with anger, labeling the content "disgraceful" and the network as "horrible," while explicitly denying the shooter's accusations.

Trump further dismissed the manifesto as "cr-p" from a "sick person," arguing it was unfair to bring up such "inflammatory" claims.

Allen is currently in federal custody following his arrest for the attempted assassination of the president.