Chris Cuomo threatens to beat up Trump supporter who referred to him as 'Fredo' at New York bar
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was caught on film threatening to beat up a Trump supporter who called him "Fredo" during a heated back and forth.
The video of the encounter—which took place at a bar in Shelter Island, New York on Sunday—was first posted by an independent YouTube journalist known only as Brandon, Daily Mail reports.
An angry Cuomo is seen in the cell phone footage berating a man for referring to him as "Fredo."
"Punk-a** b*****s from the right call me Fredo," Cuomo is heard saying. "My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN. Fredo is from The Godfather. He was a weak brother. And they use it as an Italian aspersion. Any of you Italian? It’s a f****** insult to your people. It’s an insult to your f****** people. It’s like the N-word for us. Is that a cool f****** thing?"
Another man who was with the Trump supporter jumps in at this point, saying, "You’re a much more reasonable guy in person than you seem to be on television."
"If you want to play, we'll f****** play," Cuomo responds. "If you’ve got something to say about what I do on television, then say it."
When the individual responds saying "we don't want any problems," Cuomo tells him, "You’re gonna have a f****** problem. 'He’s a little different on TV.' Don’t f****** insult me like that!"
"I didn’t insult you," says the man with the glasses.
"You called me 'Fredo'. It’s like if I call you a punk b****. You like that?" Cuomo asks.
However, the man continued to insist he thought Cuomo's first name was actually Fredo.
"You know my name’s not f****** Fredo," Cuomo replies, before threatening to "f****** ruin your s***."
"I’ll f****** throw you down these stairs like a f****** punk," he says.
When the man threatens legal action against the journalist, Cuomo challenges him to "take a swing."
A number of onlookers nearby then jump in to calm the situation, but Cuomo threatens one of them, "I’ll f****** wreck your s***."
Nonetheless, the man in question continues to insist he thought Fredo was, in fact, Cuomo's real name.
It is claimed the man in the video was convinced Cuomo's real name was Fredo because conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh, of whom he is an avid listener, refers to him as such.
The footage made rounds on social media before "Fredo" became one of the most trending topics on Twitter.
"Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated set up," a spokesperson for CNN responded saying. "We completely support him."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, called Cuomo out on Twitter.
"Hey, @ChrisCuomo, take it from me, 'Fredo' isn’t the N-word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumb brother," he tweeted.
But in a stunning surprise, Fox News' conservative commentator Sean Hannity came to Cuomo's defense.
"I say good for Chris Cuomo," Hannity tweeted late Monday. "He’s out with his 9-year-old daughter, and his wife, and this guy is being a jack*** in front of his family. Imho Chris Cuomo has zero to apologize for. He deserves the apology."
"Fredo" is a reference to the fictional character Fredo Corleone in Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather'. He is the dimwitted son of Vito Corleone, who passes down control of his organized crime syndicate to Fredo's younger brother Michael Corleone.
In Francis Ford Coppola's movie adaptation of the novel, the character was played by legendary actor John Cazale.