Trump Sells ‘Fredo Unhinged’ 2020 Campaign Tees After Viral Chris Cuomo Video
Screenshot via Donald J. Trump store
The Trump campaign is retailing t-shirts that read, “Fredo Unhinged,” mere hours after a video of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo went viral.
The footage shows Cuomo in an altercation with an unidentified man, who likened the anchor to The Godfather character ‘Fredo Corleone’.
In The Godfather franchise, the character is the womanizing son of mob boss ‘Vito Corleone’, and is overshadowed by his brother and mob leader ‘Michael Corleone’. In contrast, Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo, is the former chief executive of the state, and his brother is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The political journalist hit back at the racial slur, saying, “Punk-a** b**ches from the right call me ‘Fredo’. My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN. ‘Fredo’ is from The Godfather. He was a weak brother.”
CNN Spokesperson:
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 13, 2019
“Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him.” https://t.co/xPucH8EnGL
He also mentioned that the name “Fredo” was akin to the N-word for people of Italian descent, and proclaimed that he was going to throw the other person “down these stairs like a f**king punk.”
Cuomo has since reflected on Twitter that, “truth is I should be better than the guys baiting me… But there is a lesson: no need to add to the ugliness; I should be better than what I oppose.”
Shortly after, Brad Parscale, who created the viral US$15 Trump plastic straws, announced that the official campaign was selling limited edition ‘Fredo Unhinged’ t-shirts in wake of the drama.
Get your commemorative #FredoCuomo Unhinged shirt today! We only have a limited supply of the shirt, which was inspired by the epic & historic viral video of @CNN's @ChrisCuomo meltdown!https://t.co/Iv8jqnIDIk
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) August 13, 2019
Image via Donald J. Trump store
The t-shirt features Cuomo’s face superimposed on ‘Fredo’s from a scene in The Godfather Part II, where the character declares, “I can handle things, I’m smart! Not like everybody says.”
It comes with the tagline, “Fredo Unhinged,” and urges onlookers to “Text ‘Fredo’ to 88022.” Texting the number would prompt updates and donation details for the campaign.
“CNN’s Chris Cuomo is ‘Fredo’!” the product’s description reads. “The truth hurts. He totally lost it. Help us annoy Chris Cuomo and buy your ‘Fredo Unhinged Tee’ now!”
A spokesperson for CNN has responded that the media outlet “completely support[s]” the anchor for “[defending] himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur.”
Even FOX News’ conservative opinion host, Sean Hannity, renowned for critiquing CNN, sides with Cuomo, commenting that the anchor “has zero to apologize for.”
[via HuffPost, images via Donald J. Trump store]
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