A commentary in the New York Times in 2017 referred to “all” of President Donald Trump’s sons — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner — as Fredo.

The unearthed commentary and tweet followed a viral video of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo threatening a man for calling him Fredo, which Cuomo said is an Italian slur similar to the N-word insulting blacks.

New York Times columnist Gail Collins compared Trump to the father in the iconic Godfather film of Fredo fame.

“Who do you think is Worst Trump Child?” Collins asked:

Junior has certainly rocketed into the lead. Although frankly, if the president is playing Godfather in this particular drama, all the grown sons are Fredo. That includes son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was in on the meeting with that Russian attorney who was supposed to be bearing dirt on Hillary Clinton. Which Kushner neglected to mention on disclosure forms he filled out when he went to work at the White House. As senior adviser on Middle East peace, reorganizing government, combating drug abuse, China and Mexico. Eric gets credit for keeping a low profile. Really, he hasn’t said anything very strange since he compared waterboarding to a fraternity hazing. Except for the time he said nepotism was “a beautiful thing.”

Wall Street Journal editor James Taranto pointed out the Fredo/New York Times connection on Twitter on Monday.

I can't believe the NYT would publish something so offensive! https://t.co/VtpPIozSOz — James Taranto (@jamestaranto) August 13, 2019

“I can’t believe the NYT would publish something so offensive!” Taranto tweeted and linked to the Times 2017 tweet about its Fredo comparison of Trump’s “grown sons.”

Opinion: "If the president is playing Godfather in this particular drama, all the grown sons are Fredo" https://t.co/rQSMPRVWrP — The New York Times (@nytimes) July 13, 2017

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