Chris Cuomo, the former CNN anchor now hosting a nightly prime-time show on NewsNation, reportedly used his platform Monday to call on billionaire Elon Musk and other technology executives to reengineer social media algorithms in the name of reducing political violence.
“Businesses make choices,” Cuomo declared. Turning directly to Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), Cuomo added: “Elon, you can tell me to piss off, but I never would want anything bad to happen to you or your family or anything because of what you say.” He continued, “I think you and the other tech bros should change your algorithms to stop juicing and making money off the most provocative, destructive and extreme s—, because that’s what social media has become.”
Cuomo’s appeal comes in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down while speaking at Utah Valley University last week. The killing has reignited debate about the climate of political violence in the United States, with the left and the right accusing each other of fanning the flames.
For Cuomo, Musk represents one of the few figures with the power to make tangible change. “I think you and the other tech bros can help here,” Cuomo said, urging Silicon Valley leaders to take responsibility for the “dumpster fire” of online discourse.
The host did not dwell on the ideological leanings of Kirk’s accused killer, nor on the anti-fascist slogans reportedly connected to the attack.
Instead, he framed the broader issue as one of corporate accountability. “It could be whatever we want to make it, and it’s a dumpster fire,” Cuomo said of the current social media landscape.
In his monologue, Cuomo noted that the response to Kirk’s death on social platforms underscored how far the country has drifted. “How bad is it?” he asked rhetorically. “We are flooded with ideas about whether what Charlie Kirk said somehow qualifies his murder.”
The suggestion that speech could justify political assassination has unsettled many conservatives, who see Kirk’s killing as the most recent — and most shocking — evidence of escalating hostility against right-leaning figures. Cuomo himself acknowledged the danger of rhetoric that dehumanizes political opponents. “Trust that you’re catering to the few and not the many with the poison on your platforms,” he cautioned the tech industry.
Throughout his program, Cuomo has often attempted to present himself as a broker of bipartisan solutions. Yet his latest appeal places responsibility not on activists or political leaders, but on the digital platforms that dominate modern discourse.
The former CNN anchor insisted that corporate choices, particularly those made by Musk and his peers, are feeding division and enriching themselves in the process.
Cuomo, once one of the most polarizing figures in cable news, is now seeking to reposition himself as a voice for moderation. But his plea comes at a moment when conservatives argue they are bearing the brunt of political violence, culminating in the shocking murder of Kirk. For those voices, Cuomo’s call for algorithmic change may ring hollow — a gesture that shifts blame away from ideology and onto technology, even as a conservative leader is laid to rest.
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