CNN’ s Chris Cuomo was reportedly caught on video in a fiery confrontation with a man who approached and insulted him by calling him “Fredo.” Donald Trump Jr. jumped into the resulting controversy to roast Cuomo, who likened the insult to calling someone “the N-word,” informing him that Fredo “just means you’re the dumb brother.”
According to Fox News , Cuomo was out with his family on Sunday night when he was allegedly approached by a man that called him Fredo.
“No, punk-ass b****es from the right call me ‘Fredo.’ My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN,” Cuomo said to the man. “‘Fredo’ was from ‘The Godfather.’ He was a weak brother and they use that as an Italian slur — are any of you Italian?… It’s a f***ing insult to your people. It’s an insult to your f***in’ people. It’s like the N-word for us. Is that a cool f***ing thing?”
The man sarcastically responded to Cuomo, who is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s younger brother, saying he thought the CNN anchor seemed more reasonable on TV. The two argued back and forth, with Cuomo threatening the man and the man, who appeared to be a Trump supporter, pushing back.
The video of the confrontation, which appears to have been taken surreptitiously from a low angle, went viral after it was posted on YouTube.
Donald Trump Jr. took note of the exchange and decided to weigh in with his own message. He re-tweeted a comment saying that the N-word is dehumanizing and that Fredo is not an insult on the same level.
“Hey @ChrisCuomo, take it from me, ‘Fredo’ isn’t the N word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumb brother,” Trump Jr. wrote.
He added a second message calling out CNN .
Does CNN’s head of PR still think “Fredo” is an ethnic slur after watching this? Because if it’s the N word for Italians like @ChrisCuomo says, I don’t understand why Chris seems so at ease with someone saying it here. An excuse just as fake as his news. #FredoCuomo https://t.co/8G8yuY80CK pic.twitter.com/1gwVyDVCob
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 13, 2019
Trump Jr. has been subject to the “Fredo” insult himself when CNN’ s Jake Tapper depicted the eldest Trump brother as the character from The Godfather in a segment.
President Donald Trump also jumped into the conversation on Tuesday with a message on Twitter of his own. Trump wrote that he “thought Chris was Fredo also,” adding that the “truth hurts.”
He later added a second tweet, calling Cuomo out for his “filthy language” and saying he should be flagged from owning a weapon.
Would Chris Cuomo be given a Red Flag for his recent rant? Filthy language and a total loss of control. He shouldn’t be allowed to have any weapon. He’s nuts!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019
CNN stood by their anchor, according to Fox News , saying that he was being attacked by the man and was defending himself.
“Hey @ChrisCuomo , take it from me, ‘Fredo’ isn’t the N word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumb brother,” wrote @DonaldJTrumpJr .
FACT-CHECK: True https://t.co/02G5tJC9Y1
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 13, 2019
