Fox News host Sean Hannity is defending Chris Cuomo after a video surfaced showing the CNN host threatening to “f—ing throw” someone down the stairs for calling him “Fredo,” a fictional character from “The Godfather.”
“I say good for @ChrisCuomo,” Hannity wrote on Twitter late Monday. “He’s out with his 9 year old daughter, and his wife, and this guy is being a jackass in front of his family. Imho Chris Cuomo has zero to apologize for. He deserves the apology.”
{mosads}The video shows Cuomo repeatedly cursing at a man who appeared to mock him by calling him “Fredo.” It is unclear when and where the exchange took place.
“Punk ass bitches from the right call me Fredo,” Cuomo says to a man standing beside him. “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.”
Cuomo, an Italian, then argues that the term “Fredo” is a racist slur similar to calling an African American the N-word.
The man involved in the confrontation tells the anchor that he’s a “much more reasonable guy in person than you seem to be on television.”
“If you want to play then we’ll f—ing play,” Cuomo responds. “If you’ve got something to say about what I do on television then say it.”
Cuomo, who is being held back by other people in the video, at one point threatens that he will “f—ing throw you down these stairs like a f—ing punk.”
CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic said in a statement on Twitter late Monday that the network was standing by its host.
“Cuomo was defending himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup.”
The video was first released by the YouTube channel “That’s The Point with Brandon,” an outlet that highlights its support of President Trump on its “about” page. Trump has repeatedly attacked CNN and its coverage throughout his presidency.
Katrina Pierson, a Trump campaign aide, slammed Cuomo on Twitter for comparing the term Fredo — referring to the weaker and less intelligent brother in “The Godfather” — with a “word used against blacks who endured years of oppression.”
“Hey @ChrisCuomo, take it from me, ‘Fredo’ isn’t the N word for Italians, it just means you’re the dumb brother,” the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote.