President Donald Trump defended his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on Monday when answering questions from reporters, saying that Giuliani dismantled CNN's Chris Cuomo during a recent appearance on the network.
Trump made the remarks in response to a reporter asking him if he is "happy with the way Rudy Giuliani has been handling the Ukraine situation."
"I think he was excellent," Trump responded. "I watched him the other night, I haven't watched that show in a long time, I don't watch CNN, because it's fake news."
"I watched Rudy take apart Fredo. Fredo's performance was incompetent. Rudy took him apart," Trump continued. "Rudy Giuliani took Fredo to the cleaners."
Fredo is a fictional character from the movie "The Godfather" who "was known as the weakest and least intelligent brother of the Corleone crime family," according to the Free Beacon.
President Trump on Rudy Giuliani's performance battling CNN's Chris Cuomo:
“I watched Rudy take apart Fredo. Fredo’s performance was incompetent. Rudy took him apart. ... Rudy Giuliani took Fredo to the cleaners” pic.twitter.com/WWTwllfGKV — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 23, 2019
Critics have frequently referred to Cuomo as "Fredo" as a way to mock him, but the nickname for the CNN host became mainstream over the summer after Cuomo had a public meltdown over someone calling him the name to his face.
"I thought that's who you were," the man said to Cuomo.
"No, punk-a** b****es from the Right call me Fredo," Cuomo responded. "My name is Chris Cuomo. I'm an anchor on CNN."
"Fredo is from 'The Godfather,' he was that weak brother and they're using it as an Italian aspersion," Cuomo continued. "It's like the 'N-word' for us."
The man responded to Cuomo's intense words by remarking, "You're a much more reasonable guy in person than you seem to be on television."
Cuomo later said, "You're going to have a f***ing problem."
"What are you going to do about it?" the man asked.
Cuomo responded with a string of expletives. "I'll f***ing ruin your shit," the CNN host said. "I'll f***ing throw you down these stairs like a f***ing punk."
After the infamous incident, Trump helped amplify the nickname for Cuomo, tweeting: "I thought Chris was Fredo also. The truth hurts. Totally lost it! Low ratings @CNN"
