CNN star anchor Chris Cuomo was filmed threatening to beat up a Trump supporter who referred to him as ‘Fredo’ during a heated conversation that is making the rounds on social media.
Social media accounts run by an independent YouTube journalist known as ‘Brandon’ posted video of the encounter, which is said to have taken place at a bar in Shelter Island, New York on Sunday.
The video, which was filmed by a cell phone camera, shows an angry Cuomo berating a man for referring to him as ‘Fredo.’
‘Punk-a** b*****s from the right call me Fredo,’ Cuomo says in the video.
Chris Cuomo (in the hat on the right) is filmed on amateur video berating a man (unseen) who referred to him as ‘Fredo’ in a bar on New York’s Shelter Island on Sunday
Cuomo then yells at another man (left) who claims that he honestly believed his name was Fredo
Cuomo was enraged by being called ‘Fredo’ which he says is an ethnic slur against Italians
As the argument grew more heated, a number of people got in between Cuomo and the hecklers
‘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?’
At this point, another man who was with the Trump supporter being confronted by Cuomo remarks: ‘You’re a much more reasonable guy in person than you seem to be on television.’
To which Cuomo responds: ‘If you want to play, we’ll f****** play.
‘If you’ve got something to say about what I do on television, then say it.’
Then the individual with the glasses says: ‘We don’t want any problems.’
Cuomo then responds: ‘You’re gonna have a f****** problem.
‘“He’s a little different on TV.” Don’t f****** insult me like that!’
The man in the glasses says: ‘I didn’t insult you.’
A spokesperson for CNN said the network supports Cuomo (seen above in New York in December). ‘Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup,’ the network said
Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, slammed Chris Cuomo, tweeting: ‘Hey, @ChrisCuomo, take it from me, “Fredo” isn’t the N word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumb brother.’
To which Cuomo replies: ‘You called me “Fredo”. It’s like if I call you a punk b****. You like that?’
The man then insisted that he believed Cuomo’s name was Fredo.
‘You know my name’s not f****** Fredo,’ Cuomo tells the man.
‘I thought it was,’ the man replies.
After going back and forth, Cuomo threatens to ‘f****** ruin your s***.’
‘I’ll f****** throw you down these stairs like a f****** punk,’ Cuomo says.
The man then threatens legal action against Cuomo, who invites him to ‘take a swing.’
At this point, it appears that a number of curious onlookers arrive and try to calm the situation.
One person not seen in the video appears to place his hands on Cuomo in an attempt to de-escalate the matter.
‘Watch your f****** hands,’ Cuomo says.
At least one person comes in between Cuomo and the man with the glasses.
Cuomo says to the man: ‘I’ll f****** wreck your s***.’
The man continues to insist that he thought Fredo was Cuomo’s real name.
Cuomo does not accept the explanation, saying: ‘You didn’t know what you were saying, right?’
Fredo is a reference to Fredo Corleone, the fictional character from Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. He was played by the late actor John Cazale (seen far right). Fellow cast members include, from left to right: James Caan, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino
On the YouTube page where the clip first appeared, it is claimed that the man in the video believed that Cuomo’s real name was Fredo because that’s how conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh refers to him.
The man in the video is said to be an avid listener of Limbaugh’s show.
The video went viral on Monday, with the term ‘Fredo’ being one of the most trending topics on Twitter.
A spokesperson for CNN responded to the video by saying: ‘Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup.
‘We completely support him.’
Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, slammed Chris Cuomo, tweeting: ‘Hey, @ChrisCuomo, take it from me, “Fredo” isn’t the N word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumb brother.’
CNN and its anchors have been frequent targets of President Trump and his supporters who say the network is ‘fake news’ and biased against Republicans.
After the video of the Chris Cuomo went viral on Monday, a number of pro-Trump social media users started the hashtag #FredoCuomo.
As Cuomo mentioned in the clip, ‘Fredo’ is a reference to the fictional character Fredo Corleone.
Chris Cuomo (left), 49, is the younger brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (right), 61
The Cuomo brothers are two of five children whose father was the late Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York. Andrew Cuomo and his dad are seen in November 2006 after Andrew was elected state attorney general
The man who called Chris Cuomo ‘Fredo’ said he heard the name on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show. The conservative talk show host is seen above at a Trump rally in Missouri in November 2018
In Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Fredo is the dimwitted son whose father, Vito Corleone, passed down control of his organized crime business to younger brother Michael Corleone.
Fredo was played in the award-winning Godfather films by late actor John Cazale.
Ironically, the Cuomo-Fredo controversy erupted on Cazale’s birthday. Had he lived, he would have turned 84 on Monday.
Cazale died in 1978 of lung cancer. He was just 42 years old.
His girlfriend at the time, Meryl Streep, was at his side throughout his illness.
Chris Cuomo, 49, is the younger brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, 61.
The Cuomo brothers are two of five children whose father was the late Mario Cuomo, who served as governor of New York from 1983 until 1994.
Last year, Governor Cuomo oversaw the inauguration of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, which was the new name given to the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Hudson River crossing that connects Tarrytown and Nyack.