CNN host Chris Cuomo was recorded flipping out on a right-wing heckler who called him “Fredo,” which Cuomo claimed was “like the N-word” for Italians.
The video of Cuomo being confronted was posted on the right-wing YouTube channel “That’s the Point with Brandon.” The video shows Cuomo, the younger brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, threaten to “ruin” the heckler for calling him “Fredo,” the dumber, younger brother of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather."
“Only punk-ass bitches from the right call me Fredo," Cuomo says in the clip. "My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN. Fredo is from 'The Godfather.' He was a weak brother. And they’re using it as an Italian aspersion. Any of you Italian? It's a fucking insult to your people.”
“It’s like the N-word for us,” Cuomo bizarrely declared.
"Don't fucking insult me like that!" Cuomo raged. "You know my name's not fucking Fredo."
"What are you going to do about it?" the heckler taunted.
"I'll fucking ruin your shit," Cuomo said. "I'll fucking throw you down these stairs like a fucking punk. ... Take a swing, c'mon boy… You want to call me shit, call me shit then. I'm fucking right here. I'll fucking wreck your shit. You didn't know what you were doing when you called me Fredo?"
CNN spox defends Cuomo, mocks Trump kids:
After the altercation was posted online, President Trump and his son mocked Cuomo.
“I thought Chris was Fredo also,” Trump wrote. “The truth hurts. Totally lost it!”
“Would Chris Cuomo be given a Red Flag for his recent rant?” he later added. “Filthy language and a total loss of control. He shouldn’t be allowed to have any weapon. He’s nuts!”
CNN spokesman Matt Dornic defended Cuomo in a statement.
“Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him,” Dornic said.
Donald Trump Jr. continued to pile on.
“Hey Chris Cuomo, take it from me, ‘Fredo’ isn’t the N word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumber brother,” Trump Jr. wrote with zero irony.
Dornic replied on Twitter, “speaking of dumb brothers… cc: @EricTrump”
“Fredo” is definitely not “like the N-word”:
As comedian John Mulaney once explained, “when comparing the badness of two words, and you can’t say one of the words, that’s the worse one.”
Of course, just because Fredo is in no way “like the N-word,” many defended Cuomo, who was out with his family at the time of the incident.
“I’m Italian. Fredo isn’t the equivalent of ‘n’ word, but is like calling someone ‘loser,’ ‘screw up,’ ‘failure,’” wrote Fox News’ Jebediah Bila. “I wouldn’t like a stranger harassing me, calling me Fredo & recording me while I was out w/ family. We’re in a climate where harassment is the new normal & it’s not ok.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity also defended his rival.
“I say good for @ChrisCuomo,” he wrote. “He’s out with his 9 year old daughter, and his wife, and this guy is being a jackass in front of his family. Imho Chris Cuomo has zero to apologize for. He deserves the apology.”
