CNN’s Chris Cuomo dismissed an assault on Senate candidate Shiva Ayyadurai on Sunday, because a video of the incident showed a white liberal shoving Indian-born Ayyadurai’s megaphone into his face — but the caption said the man “punched” him.

Ayyadurai is challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts. The altercation took place Sunday afternoon outside a town hall in Great Barrington, MA, where Warren was scheduled to appear.

BREAKING: Republican opponent of Elizabeth Warren punched in the face by Elizabeth Warren supporterpic.twitter.com/xRJGqXFVsg — Wired Sources (@WiredSources) July 22, 2018

Cuomo quibbled with the viral tweet’s wording that Ayyadurai was “punched.”

Is the man pushing the megaphone into his face the punch in the face or is there something else we don’t see? https://t.co/CTburX96VG — Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) July 22, 2018

Ayyadurai responded furiously, saying he was bleeding after the assault and dared Cuomo to speak with him about the confrontation.

Chris – if you want to know what happened why don’t you ask me, instead of speculating? I was the one who was bleeding after he smashed the megaphone into my face. I’ll come on and we can have a real discussion about RACISM in America. My cell is 617-500-1988. Call me. https://t.co/4WF67SfhVi — Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai,PhD (M.I.T.) Inventor of Email (@va_shiva) July 23, 2018



The video shows a purported Warren supporter, wearing a t-shirt with a “LIBERALS” label, approach Ayyadurai, pushing Ayyadurai’s megaphone into the candidate’s face. He was subsequently arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery.

After the attack, Ayyadurai said via megaphone to a crowd of Warren’s supporters, “You guys are the scumbags crying ‘racism’.”

Ayyadurai added, “This is how these white privileged white supremacists react. What you just witnessed is how you white supremacists react when you don’t want to hear the truth from a dark-skinned Indian guy. The same guy you claim you want to help. Wake up. Wake the f*** up. You guys are f****** racists.”

Cuomo’s dismissal is apparently shared by his corporate bosses. CNN has not given the assault any coverage, and the news org has not mentioned Ayyadurai on its site since August 2017.

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter.