On Monday evening, Fox News host Sean Hannity defended CNN’s Chris Cuomo for losing his cool and threatening violence against a heckler in public while he was accompanied by his family.
“I say good for [Chris Cuomo],” Hannity captioned a video of the incident. “He’s out with his 9 year old daughter, and his wife, and this guy is being a jacka** in front of his family.”
“[In my opinion] Chris Cuomo has zero to apologize for,” the Fox host added. “He deserves the apology.”
In the leaked video, Cuomo confronted a man for calling him the name “Fredo,” a reference from “The Godfather” films. The CNN host threatened to throw the man down some stairs and told him calling an Italian the name Fredo was like calling a black person the N-word.
Here’s partial transcript from the interaction, as previously reported by The Daily Wire:
“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.”
President Donald Trump was not as generous to Cuomo as Hannity was.
“I thought Chris was Fredo also. The truth hurts. Totally lost it!” Trump posted on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
“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!” the president posted in a separate tweet, referencing proposed so-called “red flag” laws.
Later on Tuesday, Trump retweeted a GIF of the famous scene wherein Fredo complains to his brother, Michael, that he was passed over by their father, tells him he’s smart and wants respect. The GIF was tweeted out by popular right-wing Twitter account “Comfortably Smug” as a reply to Cuomo’s apology.