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CNN backs Chris Cuomo after caught-on-video confrontation

President Trump added his voice to the fray, tweeting that Cuomo 'totally lost it.' While a CNN spokesperson called the video an 'orchestrated setup.'
Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2018 file photo, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo attends the 12th annual CNN Heroes:

NEW YORK — CNN says it completely supports anchor Chris Cuomo after he was seen on video threatening to push a man down some stairs during a confrontation after the man apparently called him "Fredo," in a seeming reference to the "Godfather" movies.

The video appeared Monday on a conservative YouTube channel. Host Brandon Recor told The Washington Post the exchange happened Sunday at a bar in Shelter Island, New York, after a man approached Cuomo for a picture. The man made the video.

It doesn't show the "Fredo" reference but depicts Cuomo's profanity-laced reaction as he characterizes the comment as an anti-Italian slur. The man says he thought "Fredo" was Cuomo's name.

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CNN spokesman Matt Dornic tweeted that Cuomo "defended himself" after being slurred in what Dornic calls "an orchestrated setup."

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2018 file photo, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo attends the 12th annual CNN Heroes:

"I should be better than the guys baiting me," Cuomo said in a tweet Tuesday. "I should be better than what I oppose."

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump added his voice to the fray, tweeting, "I thought Chris was Fredo also. The truth hurts. Totally lost it! Low ratings @CNN."

The president tweeted again about the video a short time later and declared Cuomo "shouldn't be allowed to have any weapon" after his "recent rant." 

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