CHICAGO (NewsNation) — A major theme at the Democratic National Convention is the party’s pledge to go after corporate price gouging, but NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo says the influence money has in politics is the same on the left as it is on the right.
“When people talk about uniparty, we are strangled by the money reality in our politics,” Cuomo said Wednesday.
From the floor of the United Center, where the convention is taking place in Chicago, Cuomo looked up at the corporate suites of the United Center, the spaces that cost anywhere from $500,000 to millions of dollars, according to Politico. He blasted Democrats for pledging to go after corporations over price gouging, stating that it’s almost laughable when the leaders of corporations are “literally” looking down on the party faithful.
“The most dangerous money in politics is now legal money because of Citizens United,” Cuomo said, referencing a 2010 Supreme Court decision that ruled the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting corporations from political spending. “The idea that they can fight against it is almost laughable.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has proposed a ban on price gouging to reduce the costs of groceries and other goods for Americans, will accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president Thursday.
Cuomo described a transactional relationship between lawmakers and major corporations seeking to secure business interests under the new presidential administration, though he didn’t specify any companies.
“You think there’s like a teacher group up in there? You think it’s like the Cub Scouts of Columbia County, South Carolina, that’s up in those boxes?” he said. “They paid $500,000, $700,000 a million, a million and a half (dollars) to have those seats, they get hotel suites that are probably gifted to the party.”
Cuomo added that NewsNation didn’t reserve a space in one of the suites, unlike other media outlets that sent reporters to cover the convention.
“Why do you think I’m on the floor? NewsNation is not a broke company. (NewsNation parent company) Nexstar is a massive organization,” Cuomo said, adding, “We are corporate media. We don’t have one of those boxes because that’s the game you pay to play.”