CNN anchor Chris Cuomo told White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah he would never forget his name after he referred to Shah as “Raj whatever-his-name-is” earlier in the week.
After tweeting an apology, Cuomo invited Shah on to his show and he Shah made an appearance Thursday night where he sparred with Cuomo over a potential immigration deal.
“Raj Shah, I appreciate you coming on,” Cuomo said as Shah was about to sign off. “As I apologized the other day, I didn't know your last name. I apologize for that, but I'll tell you one thing: I will never forget it.”
Cuomo faced criticism on Monday from the White House appearing to forget Shah’s last name. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has also pointed out CNN had misidentified Shah when it used a photo of a former Obama administration official when mentioning Shah.
“Last month @CNN put up the wrong picture for WH Principal Deputy Press Secretary @RajShah45 & now they refer to him on air as ‘Raj whatever his name is.’ #ThisIsCNN,” Sanders tweeted.
Back in December of last year, CNN mistakenly displayed a picture of Rajiv Shah, former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development for the Obama administration, while referring to Raj Shah of the Trump administration.
Cuomo's “Raj whatever-his-name-is” remark occurred while discussing reports that President Trump referred to some foreign nations as “shithole” countries. Shah, who is Indian American, had issued a statement shortly following the report.
“We went to the White House when it happened and Raj whatever-his-name-is didn’t back off the words,” Cuomo said Monday morning.
Cuomo previously worked at ABC News before joining CNN and is the younger brother of Andrew Cuomo, Democratic governor of New York.
