President Donald Trump has directed another tweet at Chris Cuomo, this time to call him out for using “filthy language” and losing control in a viral video showing the CNN host threatening a man because he had apparently called Cuomo “Fredo.”
Trump first reacted to the video two hours earlier, taking a jab at Cuomo by saying that he also thought “Chris was Fredo also.”
Cuomo responded to the video, writing in a post on Aug. 13: “Appreciate all the support but—truth is I should be better than the guys baiting me. This happens all the time these days. Often in front of my family. But there is a lesson: no need to add to the ugliness; I should be better than what I oppose.”
Meanwhile, Cuomo’s network CNN defended him saying that the anchor was being attacked in an “orchestrated setup.”
“Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him,” Matt Dornic, vice president of communication for the network, said.
Trump Jr. was reacting to a post from Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser to Trump’s 2020 campaign, who wrote: “Did @ChrisCuomo just say that “Fredo” is to Italians what the N word is to black people? The N word is a dehumanizing word used against blacks who endured years of oppression. Fredo is a term from The Godfather, referring to the dumb brother. Equivocating the two is pure racism.”
Other people held similar views.
“Just so we’re clear, no, calling someone ‘Fredo,’ is not remotely in the same universe as the N-word. You know how you can tell? Ppl say ‘Fredo’ but still won’t say the actual N Word. Also stop harassing public figures in public while living their private lives,” wrote Bishop Garrison, director of Vets 4 American Ideals and Human Rights First.
Trump Jr. also pointed out that Cuomo did not take issue with the word being used by a commentator in the past.