77 WABC deviated from its usual programming to provide an exclusive and unfiltered two-hour discussion featuring former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and former White House Communications Director and Financier Anthony Scaramucci.
During the conversation, significant concerns were addressed affecting New York residents and the wider American population. These topics included issues like crime, the situation in Israel, immigration, firearms (including assault weapons), abortion, taxation, the SALT deduction, bail reform, LGBTQ+ rights, the impact of COVID-19, and the potential for future pandemics.
The men also discussed the influence of extremist ideologies from both the Republican and Democratic parties on the mainstream American landscape during their time on 77 WABC. Additionally, they explored the role of the media in shaping and reinforcing public perceptions and knowledge.
“More and more, the day’s politics is driven by the extreme,” Cuomo said. “The moderate voice is lost for the extremes. I believe the extremes tend to intimidate the moderates in the respective parties, and that is then reinforced by the media that we listen to. News journalism at one time was just objective facts; we are now in the age where more and more the media is a partisan-resonating tool.”
Cuomo says people confirm what they believe by watching aligned media.
“There’s a breakdown in trust in the system,” said Scaramucci. “I saw in on the Trump campaign in 2016. We would visit places, turning places in society into economically desperate places. I grew up in an aspiration blue-collar family, guided to the ideals of the American dream.”
Scaramucci highlighted the significant shift in socioeconomic issues in New York City. He also agreed with Cuomo that tribalism divides Americans along party lines in almost every case.
