CNN's Chris Cuomo was not happy when a man called him "Fredo," the character from The Godfather.
Cuomo, the younger brother of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, proceeded to tell the man that he would "fucking ruin" his "shit" and "fucking throw you down these stairs like a fucking punk." The news anchor also compared being called "Fredo" to the n-word. "Punk ass bitches from the right call me Fredo. 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," he can be heard saying in the clip.
It all happened on Sunday in New York, TMZ reports. Check out footage of the incident, which was initially released by the pro-Trump YouTube channel "That's The Point with Brandon," below.
CNN host Chris Cuomo has little to no chill when someone calls him “Fredo”. pic.twitter.com/w8pYFfq1Q9
Many from the right, including Donald Trump's son, took to social media to slam the news anchor over the clip.
CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic offered support for Cuomo, writing that he "defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him."
Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him.
On Tuesday, the New York Post revealed that Cuomo once called himself "Fredo" in a 2010 radio interview. When AM 970 host Curtis Silva asked if his brother, Andrew Cuomo, would run for governor and dubbed the family "la Cuomo nostra," the CNN personality responded by asking, “Who am I then, Fredo?”
Also on Tuesday, Cuomo addressed the incident on Twitter, and said he needs to be "better."
