On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump weighed in on CNN host Chris Cuomo’s freakout after a heckler called him the name “Fredo,” a much-used reference from “The Godfather” films.
“I thought Chris was Fredo also,” snarked the president, captioning a video of the incident. “The truth hurts. Totally lost it!”
Trump also took a swing at Cuomo’s network, writing, “Low ratings [CNN].”
About an hour after Trump’s post, the president added in a separate tweet: “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!”
Trump was referencing proposed “red flag” laws, which would allow law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from people found to be a danger to themselves or to others. While some Republicans support the laws, many have warned that they would violate constitutional due process protections.
In the video, which was seemingly secretly taped without Cuomo’s knowledge, initially, the CNN host is confronting a man for calling him Fredo.
“Punk a** b****es from the Right call me Fredo,” Cuomo told him. “I’m an anchor on CNN. Fredo is from ‘The Godfather,’ he was that weak brother. And they use it as an Italian aspersion. … It’s like the ‘N word’ for us.”
“You call me Fredo, it’s like me calling you a punk b**** — you like that? You want that to be your nickname?” the host continued.
The man then told Cuomo that he thought his name really was Fredo.
“You did not think my name was f***ing Fredo, don’t be a liar,” Cuomo told him. “You wanna be a man, I’m here. Own it. Own what you said.”
“I don’t have a problem with you,” the man said.
“You’re gonna have a f***ing problem,” Cuomo responded. “I’ll fucking ruin your s***. I’ll f***ing throw you down these stairs like a f***ing punk.”
“Please do,” the man answered.
“Why, so you will f***ing sue? So you can f***ing sue?” Cuomo asked, before encouraging the man to “take a f***ing swing.”
“I thought it was your name,” the man said.
“You didn’t know, right?” Cuomo mocked.
After the men were broken up by others intervening, the man taunts Cuomo: “Look at all these cameras, you’re in for it.”
CNN has defended Cuomo following the release of the video. As noted by The Daily Wire Monday night, a top PR official for the network, Matt Dornic, said in a Tweet: “Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him.”
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Related: CNN’s PR Head Responds To Cuomo ‘Fredo’ Meltdown. Trump Jr. Nukes Him.