CNN anchor Chris Cuomo said during an appearance on "The View" Thursday that the American people were smart enough to see through the agendas of the media and politicians.
Co-host Abby Huntsman mentioned the BuzzFeed News report last week that President Donald Trump had directed his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. Special counsel Robert Mueller's office released a statement a day later saying aspects of the story were "not accurate."
"I think at times the media is so obsessed with getting the president out of the White House ... that it actually helps the president's cause, further motivates his base, and could potentially help him win in 2020," Huntsman said.
"I think people deserve much more credit in this country than they get," Cuomo said. "The idea that America is a bunch of sheep, that they don't see it for what it is. At the end of the day, the reason people don't trust or respect the media or politicians is because they are smart, not because they're sheep."
"They're able to see through a sell job," he added. "They're able to see through agendas. The American people are very smart. You should be able to put trust in them for that. I do every night."
Cuomo defended BuzzFeed's anonymously sourced story, saying using such tactics was crucial to getting people in power to talk, in order to attain "the closest attainable version of the truth."
The CNN host expressed some irritation on Friday with Mueller's office when it pushed back on the BuzzFeed story, saying "Mueller didn't do the media any favors tonight."
Cuomo co-hosted CNN's "New Day" beginning in 2013 but moved to his new nightly show "Cuomo Primetime" last year. His older brother is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D.).