CNN anchor Chris Cuomo flew into a rage on Sunday when a “fucking punk” called him Fredo, a reference to the idiot Corleone brother in The Godfather.
Cuomo, who is the younger brother of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, heard it a little differently. “It’s an Italian aspersion … It’s an insult to your people. It’s like the N-word to us,” Cuomo says in the video, which was first published by THAT’S THE POINT with Brandon, a right-wing YouTube channel. Host Brandon Recor told the Washington Post that the video was shot in a bar in Shelter Island, New York, and sent to him by a man who said he asked Cuomo for a photo before the anchor’s blowup.
Recor tweeted that the man actually thought Cuomo’s name was Fredo from being an avid listener of Rush Limbaugh.
Over the course of the 107-second clip that began circulating on Twitter Monday, Cuomo grows progressively more agitated, eventually threatening the man. “I’ll fucking ruin your shit. I’ll fucking throw you down these stairs like a fucking punk,” he says.
CNN stood by Cuomo in a statement Monday. “Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup,” CNN said in a statement. “We completely support him.”
Sean Hannity also tweeted support for Cuomo, writing that Cuomo “has zero to apologize for. He deserves the apology.” The Trump family has also weighed in, with President Trump tweeting, “I thought Chris was Fredo also.” Donald Trump Jr., who has himself been compared to Fredo Corleone, also chimed in:
