CNN vice president and spokesman Matt Dornic tweeted that the network is completely behind their news anchor Chris Cuomo following the emergence of a video on social media that is trending and creating controversy as to whether a term that triggered him is indeed an ethnic slur, as Cuomo claimed.

Chris Cuomo defended himself when he was verbally attacked with the use of an ethnic slur in an orchestrated setup. We completely support him. — Matt Dornic (@mdornic) August 13, 2019

In fact, the very term Cuomo took offense to was used multiple times on CNN recently without protest from Cuomo or anyone else on the network. But first …

Language advisory: Cuomo’s threatening rant below is full of profanity …

Cuomo got in the face of an unidentified person who he claimed called him “Fredo” and that was not “a cool f–king thing.”

The anchor clearly stated he knew he was confronting a conservative group of friends who Cuomo called “punk-ass b-tches from the right” and charged one of them with using an N-word equivalent for Italians–“Fredo.”

Many online are disputing the validity of the offensive nature of “Fredo,” which for many has been a nickname for “Alfredo” but in the movie “The Godfather,” apparently became a term associated with a weak person.

The man who Cuomo verbally attacked protested that he thought Cuomo’s name was Fredo before the anchor launched into a full-fledged tirade, threatening to “throw [him] down these steps.”

“No, punk-ass b-tches from the right call me Fredo,” Cuomo said as the video begins. “My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN. Fredo is from ‘The Godfather.’ He was their weak brother, and they used it as an Italian aspersion.”

“Any of you Italian?” Cuomo asked, and apparently someone acknowledged that they were.

“It’s a fu–ing insult to your people,” he said. “It’s an insult to your f–king people. It’s like the N-word for us. Is that a cool fu–ing thing?”

The man tried to cool Cuomo down, telling him that he does not have a problem.

“You’re going to have a fu–ing problem. I’ll fu–ing ruin your shit. I’ll f–king throw you down these stairs like a fu–ing punk,” Cuomo said.

Suddenly, Cuomo seemed to go into full ‘roid-rage mode, trying to provoke a physical encounter.

“Take a swing,” he challenged. “No, no, come on, boy. Come on, boy. You want to call me sh-t, call me sh-t then. I’m right fu–ing here. I’ll fu–ing wreck your sh-t. I’ll fu–ing wreck your sh-t. You didn’t know what you were doing when you called me Fredo? You know now!”

**Harsh language ahead**

Video by Washington Examiner

As for CNN’s standing in the matter, Devin Nunes was called “Fredo” in March on CNN. In February, CNN’s David Gregory called Donald Trump Jr. “Fredo,” as did the network’s Ana Navarro in January, with Cuomo moderating that panel discussion without even raising an eyebrow to her characterization.

Does CNN’s head of PR still think “Fredo” is an ethnic slur after watching this? Because if it’s the N word for Italians like @ChrisCuomo says, I don’t understand why Chris seems so at ease with someone saying it here. An excuse just as fake as his news. #FredoCuomo https://t.co/8G8yuY80CK pic.twitter.com/1gwVyDVCob — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 13, 2019

Devin Nunes was referred to as “Fredo” on CNN in March. CNN’s David Gregory compared @DonaldJTrumpJr to “Fredo” in February. And in January, CNN’s Ana Navarro referred to @DonaldJTrumpJr as “Fredo”…to Cuomo on his own show. https://t.co/jXCUfFkYvs — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) August 13, 2019

Wait — is “Fredo” an “ethnic slur” as CNN says or not? https://t.co/lhyOLHbIYa — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 13, 2019

CNN’s @mdornic says Fredo is an ethnic slur. Ok. Over to @TheRickWilson on CNN earlier this year: https://t.co/shDnPD5Fex — Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) August 13, 2019

And then there’s Chris Matthews on MSNBC as well …

Fredo thread here https://t.co/TRQckw0fWJ — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 13, 2019

Joe Scarborough too:

Hey Fredo, I think you might want to worry less about lying about me and more about the lies you have told Congress (and Bob Mueller’s focus on your lying). — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) February 28, 2019

We could go on and on:

We should stop calling junior Don. We should start calling him Fredo. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 12, 2017