[CNN’s Chris Cuomo threatened a man who called him “Fredo.”]

An angry Mr. Cuomo is heard threatening to throw the man down some stairs and saying, “Fredo is from ‘The Godfather.’ He was that weak brother. And they use it as an Italian aspersion.”

The name is tantamount to “the N-word” for Italian-Americans, he said.

The movie

“The Godfather” and its two sequels are based on a novel by Mario Puzo about the rise of a Mafia figure in New York. He is succeeded by his youngest son, Michael, who initially wants nothing to do with the family business.

The oldest son, Sonny, has more temper than intellect.

The middle son, Fredo, is a hapless twig who is sent to a Las Vegas casino to do business under the tutelage and protection of another crime boss.

The Cuomos

Mario Cuomo graduated with honors from St. John’s University School of Law in 1956, but said he couldn’t get jobs at white-shoe law firms because he had a vowel at the end of his name.

When he eyed a presidential run in 1992, his rival Bill Clinton likened him to Mafia hoodlums.

Mario Cuomo’s oldest son, Andrew, is the current governor of New York and has also bristled at references to mobsters in pop culture. Like his father and brother, Governor Cuomo has complained about Italian-American stereotypes in media. Then last year, Joseph Percoco, the governor’s former close aide, was convicted in a bribery scheme. During the trial, it came to light Mr. Percoco had been perpetuating th e stereotypes.

Prosecutors said Mr. Percoco referred to bribery payments he sought as “ziti,” a term also used in “The Sopranos,” the HBO drama about a mob family in New Jersey.

On Tuesday, Chris Cuomo wrote on Twitter, “I should be better than the guys baiting me.” A CNN spokesman defended him, as did Sean Hannity of Fox News.