CNN's Chris Cuomo said 'Fredo' is the 'N-word for Italians.' Donald Trump Jr. has a pretty brutal response.

CNN's Chris Cuomo.
(Image credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for CNN)

Did Donald Trump Jr. just compliment New York's Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo?

On Monday night, a video of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was posted online showing him going off on a man who apparently called him "Fredo," likening the Godfather insult to "the N-word" for Italians. The racial component of Cuomo's public explosion has gotten a lot of attention, but President Trump's son took another, more personal angle when firing this pretty lethal insult at Cuomo on Twitter.

See more

The video shows a few men approaching Cuomo, and one apparently calling him "Fredo," which is an insult that originated in a movie 47 years ago, and not one with centuries of racial injustice behind it. Cuomo immediately got pretty angry, and he eventually escalates to tell one man he'll "throw you down these stairs like a f---ing punk."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The president himself also responded with a far less creative tweet, saying "I thought Chris was Fredo also" and invoking his usual "low ratings CNN" zinger. Here's what CNN's vice president for communications had to say. Kathryn Krawczyk

See more
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.