Monday was Chris ‘Fredo’ Cuomo’s first night back at the helm of Prime Time after a viral video exposed him threatening to throw a guy down a flight of stairs after getting mocked. Fredo held off saying anything about what happened until the end of his show. There was no apology to the guy or to Italian-Americans for the false claim he peddled suggesting “Fredo” was an “ethnic slur.” Instead, there was cockiness and laughter from him and fellow CNN host Don Lemon.
After coming back from a commercial break, Cuomo finally addressed the 800-pound, juicehead gorilla in the room. “All right, no secret how I spent one particular afternoon on vacation, and there is nothing to add. Except to say thank you,” he joyously declared. “Thank you to all who reached out in person, who sent messages. I appreciate it.”
“That includes Mr. Hannity and Ms. Maddow. They acted as colleagues, not competitors, and I won't forget it. In fact, I'm not going to forget and I will use all of the feedback,” he added.
He then opined about how “the key is for us all to be better, and that starts with me.” His self-proclaimed way of getting better was to insisted that Republicans wanted to “downplay” white supremacy and embrace them as part of their “team.”
We’ll get back to that bitter rant in a moment because just a few minutes later, Cuomo and Lemon were laughing about how Cuomo acted in the video.
During the handoff to CNN Tonight, Cuomo told Lemon that he had “had a very eventful week. I think that the only time I wasn't with you I really should have been with you.” The prime time duo laughed about the idea of what happened, with Cuomo adding that he “would have been in a lot better position right now.”
Lemon reminded his friend that he actually was there and just didn’t see the altercation, again the two laughed about the threats (click “expand”):
LEMON: Actually, I was there. I did not see it, remember.
[LAUGHTER]
CUOMO: Good time not to see.
LEMON: I should have been there. Hey, I should have been with you at the moment.
Now back to Cuomo improving himself by smearing the GOP.
Cuomo went on a rant suggesting a memo advising GOP lawmakers on how to answer questions from a hostile liberal press, that was out to pin white supremacy on the whole party, meant they were wrapping their arms about white supremacists.
Despite the lawmakers condemning the bigots, Cuomo insisted it was “pro forma” “because they then are effectively told to own the white supremacists as part of their team by immediately saying, 'But what about those people on the left?'”
The CNN host was upset that Republicans wanted to label his buddies in Antifa as domestic terrorists. “That but, that qualification of the condemnation sounds like a defense because it is, especially when your, ‘The left is bad, too’ defies the facts,” he claimed.
Further trying to suggest the right was looking to climb into bed with racists, Cuomo whined about how Antifa was being treated:
So why does the President say he's considering naming Antifa a terrorist organization, but silent about the same for white nationalists? Is this perverse notion of covering for their side fueling the resistance by Republicans to condemn white nationalist murders as acts of terror?
A few minutes later, Cuomo disregarded the long and well-documented histories of anti-Semitism from Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN) and Rashida Tlaib (MI). He suggested Trump and the right were calling them out because they’re “female, brown, and Muslim” (click “expand”):
Is this memo the cement solidifying the sordid structure of the GOP campaign? If so, then the obsession with Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar makes sense. Female, brown, Muslim, it's like a toxic trifecta for those determined to divide.
No, they says it's about standing with Israel, standing with Jewish people here and there. That's why he says he tweeted that members of the U.S. Congress “hate Israel and all Jewish people”? I think he's looking to divide, not show unity. Why?
Here's the argument. If you want to support the Jewish people here, well, don't both sides own white supremacy? Call white nationalists terrorists, especially when they're the ones targeting Jews here.
If Fredo really cared about calling out bigots and those looking to divided, he would look at what he was claiming about the GOP and realize it was what he was doing in ignoring Omar and Tlaib’s anti-Semitism and his embrace of Antifa. That would be a much better way him to improve himself.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
August 19, 2019
9:53:38 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: All right, no secret how I spent one particular afternoon on vacation, and there is nothing to add. Except to say thank you. Thank you to all who reached out in person, who sent messages. I appreciate it. That includes Mr. Hannity and Ms. Maddow. They acted as colleagues, not competitors, and I won't forget it. In fact, I'm not going to forget and I will use all of the feedback.
Because the key is for us all to be better, and that starts with me. So let me do what we do best here and expose an ugly reality. Here's the argument. Republicans have been intentionally downplaying white supremacy, that it is literally part of their playbook.
The obvious question is why are they doing this? We'll get to that. But first let me dismiss any suggestion that this argument is false. Here's the proof obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. This is an internal memo circulated among GOP members of Congress.
Here's a sample question-- You can go online and get it for I'm going to truncate forks time's sake.
Do you believe that white nationalism is driving more mass shootings recently? The answer is to give a pro forma condemnation of white nationalism. “It’s all bad.” And I say pro forma because they then are effectively told to own the white supremacists as part of their team by immediately saying, “But what about those people on the left?” As in, Nazis suck, but so does dot, dot, dot.
That but, that qualification of the condemnation sounds like a defense because it is, especially when your, "The left is bad, too" defies the facts.
Now, of course, there are thugs acting under many flags and all who break the law to advance a political agenda are to be called out. Maybe criminals, maybe terrorists. These white nationalists, however, are among the worst morally and statistically.
The ADL says nearly three-quarters of extremist-related murders in the past decade were committed by right-wing extremists like white nationalists. So why does the President say he's considering naming Antifa a terrorist organization, but silent about the same for white nationalists? Is this perverse notion of covering for their side fueling the resistance by Republicans to condemn white nationalist murders as acts of terror?
(…)
CUOMO: Is this memo the cement solidifying the sordid structure of the GOP campaign? If so, then the obsession with Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar makes sense. Female, brown, Muslim, it's like a toxic trifecta for those determined to divide.
No, they says it's about standing with Israel, standing with Jewish people here and there. That's why he says he tweeted that members of the U.S. Congress “hate Israel and all Jewish people”? I think he's looking to divide, not show unity. Why?
Here's the argument. If you want to support the Jewish people here, well, don't both sides own white supremacy? Call white nationalists terrorists, especially when they're the ones targeting Jews here.
(…)
10:02:50 p.m. Eastern
DON LEMON: I would say I missed you, but I think I saw you more last week than I see you when we're here together. I spent like every other day, if not every day, with you.
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: It was kind of weird.
CUOMO: I had a very eventful week. I think that the only time I wasn't with you I really should have been with you.
[Laughter]
CUOMO: I would have been in a lot better position right now.
LEMON: Actually, I was there. I did not see it, remember.
[LAUGHTER]
CUOMO: Good time not to see.
LEMON: I should have been there. Hey, I should have been with you at the moment.
(…)
