Over the weekend, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo threatened to throw a man down a flight of stairs after the man mistakenly referred to him as “Fredo.” Cuomo cursed the man out and said “Fredo” — a term for the weakest member of the family in The Godfather — is like “the n-word for us.” The CNN anchor later apologized. Cuomo had referred to himself as “Fredo” in 2010. YouTube removed a video reporting on Cuomo’s threats but restored it after Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted about it. The president himself tweeted about it after it was restored.
“YouTube has removed the original viral ‘Fredo’ video from [THAT’S THE POINT with Brandon] for violating their ‘harassment and bullying’ policy,” a Trump supporter announced on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of the removed video.
UPDATE: YouTube has removed the original viral “Fredo” video from @theeconstituti1 for violating their “harassment and bullying” policy.https://t.co/EMnOeGnnQN pic.twitter.com/cjMXl0np30
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) August 13, 2019
The president’s son shared the news. “Unbelievable: [YouTube] has taken down the viral video showing [Chris Cuomo] threatening to assault a heckler and then grotesquely comparing ‘Fredo’ to the N word. Youtube/Google literally covering up his racism and violent threats. You can’t make this stuff up,” Trump Jr. tweeted.
Unbelievable: @Youtube has taken down the viral video showing @chriscuomo threatening to assault a heckler and then grotesquely comparing “Fredo” to the N word. Youtube/Google literally covering up his racism and violent threats. You can’t make this stuff up. #StopTheBias https://t.co/A14f5CLSpN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 13, 2019
The president himself tweeted about the situation. Trump told YouTube, “Put it back up. We are living with a Rigged & Fake Media!”
Put it back up. We are living with a Rigged & Fake Media! https://t.co/ZhanbGCxuX
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019
The video, which has more than 287,000 views on YouTube, was restored.
THAT’S THE POINT with Brandon appealed the video’s removal, and the video was restored shortly before the president tweeted about it. There is no evidence that YouTube’s decision had anything to do with Trump Jr.’s tweet.
https://twitter.com/THEECONSTITUTI1/status/1161310649407819776
Earlier on Tuesday, President Trump suggested that Cuomo’s threats might put the CNN anchor afoul of red flag laws, preventing him from being able to access a weapon.
“Would Chris Cuomo be given a Red Flag for his recent rant? Filthy language and a total loss of control. He shouldn’t be allowed to have any weapon. He’s nuts!” Trump tweeted.
Would Chris Cuomo be given a Red Flag for his recent rant? Filthy language and a total loss of control. He shouldn’t be allowed to have any weapon. He’s nuts!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019
YouTube has a history of targeting conservative content. The conservative nonprofit PragerU is suing Google and YouTube after the video platform placed many PragerU videos off-limits in restricted mode.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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