Last Updated on August 13, 2019
CNN’s Chris Cuomo launched a vulgar rant and appeared to threaten violence after becoming offended when a New York man referred to him as “Fredo”, a nickname for Cuomo he apparently heard and mistook for his real name while listening to “The Rush Limbaugh Show”.
The run in between Cuomo and the unnamed man took place in Shelter Island, New York on August 11, 2019 and showed Cuomo adopt a New York accent as he shouted obscenities at the man who referred to him as “Fredo”, a reference to “The Godfather”, and appeared to threaten violence.
The man captured the event on video, and sent it to “THAT’S THE POINT with Brandon”, a popular YouTube and social media personality.
On video, Cuomo tells the man, “You’re going to have a f***king problem, I’ll f***king ruin your sh*t, I’ll throw you down the stairs like a f***king punk.”
The man explains that he learned of Cuomo through “The Rush Limbaugh Show”, where Limbaugh almost exclusively refers to Cuomo as “Fredo Cuomo”.
“F**k ass b***hes from the right call me Fredo, I’m Chris Cuomo, I’m an anchor on CNN. Fredo was from The Godfather, he was that weak brother. And they use it in an Italian dispersion,” said Cuomo. “Any of you Italian? Are any of you Italian? It’s a f***king insult to your people. It’s an insult to your f***king people. It’s like the N-word for us. Is that a cool f***king thing?”
The unnamed man then told Cuomo, “You’re a much more reasonable guy in person than you seem to be on television.”
“Yeah, well if you want to play then we’ll f***king play,” Cuomo responded. “You got something you want to say about what I do on television then say it, but I’m not going to fall for your f***king insults.”
When the man then attempted to tell Cuomo he did not want to have a problem, Cuomo responded by steeping into further vulgarity.
“You’re gonna have a big f***king problem, it’s a little different on TV. Don’t f***king insult me like that, the f**k, you called me Fredo. It’s like I called you punk b***h, you want that to be your nickname?”
Again, the man attempts to explain that he heard him referred to as “Fredo” repeatedly by Limbaugh. This further displeases Cuomo.
“You did not think my name is f***king Fredo, don’t be a liar,” said Cuomo as he continued to inch closer to the unnamed man.
This prompted the man to take off his sunglasses.
“You’re gonna have a f***king problem,” Cuomo said, “I’ll f***king ruin your sh*t. I’ll f***king throw you down the stairs like a f***king punk.”
After the man invited Cuomo to make good on what appeared to be violent threats, Cuomo responded, “What, so you can f***king sue? So you can f***king sue?”
Cuomo went on to invite the man to “Take a f***king swing at me, take a f***king swing.”
When a man tried to break up the possible altercation, Cuomo wildly thrust his arms forward, and told the bystander to “Watch your f***king hands.”
“Come on boy, you want to call me sh*t, call me sh*t then,” said Cuomo. “I’ll f***king wreck your sh*t, I’ll f***king wreck your sh*t.”
He continued, at this point at a full yell, “You didn’t know what you were saying, right? You know now!”
https://youtu.be/2NAwowhwi9c
Speaking to National File on Twitter, Brandon explains that the possible violence was successfully mitigated as Cuomo and the unnamed man were separated.
“Nothing happened after the video ended,” said Brandon. “They separated.”
Brandon also notes that the unnamed man “Was not in fear of the threats.”
“Personally, if he wasn’t such a lying POS who religiously spreads FAKE NEWS, I would have maybe have personally respected that,” added Brandon, regarding his opinion on the incident. “But also it was over a name FREDO which he clearly tried make equivalent to the N word.”
“That’s where he lost all points.”
This is not the first time Cuomo likened the plights he suffers to that of an African American. In 2017, Cuomo claimed that the term “fake news” is like the N-word for media figures.
“I see being called ‘fake news’ as the equivalent of the N-word for journalists, the equivalent of calling an Italian any of the ugly words that people have for that ethnicity,” Cuomo said on SiriusXM.
“That’s what ‘fake news’ is to a journalist,” the CNN host continued. “It’s an ugly insult, and you better be right if you’re going to charge a journalist with lying on purpose.”
Earlier in the day, Cuomo said being called “fake news” was “like an ethnic disparagement” for journalists, but he didn’t at the time compare it to the N-word.
National File asked CNN for a comment on Cuomo’s behavior and language and did not receive an immediate response.
