RUSH: So, I have had a lot of people say, “Rush, what about this Chris Cuomo business? Fredo. You haven’t talked about Fredo.” Well, look, Fredo’s been cooped up for two weeks in his basement with coronavirus, and so it’s understandable he might start sounding a little, ah, stressed. Stressed. Stressed. For… (interruption)

Well, he may be telling the truth as to how he feels now, but I’m not sure that Fredo really means all this once there’s a return to quasi-normalcy. Well, here’s what this is all about. Fredo Cuomo got corona and has been going on the air on CNN for two weeks from his basement. He’s quarantined from the familia.

I think they’re still sending the veal parmesan down the steps with a dumbwaiter, but aside from that, he’s had no contact with family. And he has a radio show (who doesn’t) on SiriusXM, and he had a little bit of a crisis, a little bit of a breakdown on his radio show yesterday. He lashed out at CNN, lashed out at the CNN job.He blasted Trump as being full of crap, although he didn’t say crap. And he said, you know what? “I don’t want to spend my time doing things that I don’t think are valuable to me personally. I don’t value indulging irrationality, hyper-partisanship. I don’t like dealing with people who are irrational.”

He said that having the coronavirus “has made him rethink his values and question his position as a public figure,” and he went so far as to say, “I don’t like what I do professionally. I don’t think it’s worth my time.” He “launched into a tale about a ‘loser biker’ who confronted him on Easter Sunday for being outside his property with his family despite his coronavirus diagnosis.

“‘I don’t want some jackass, loser, fat-tire biker being able to pull over and get in my space and talk [garbage] to me, I don’t want to hear it,’ he said. Cuomo said he wishes he could have acted like a regular Joe and told the biker to ‘go to hell,'” but he can’t do it because he works at CNN. He’s a public figure.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Anyway, back to Fredo. He says he’s too famous; he can’t react to bikers like he really wants to. We have it on… Actually, we have some audio. Here. This is his radio show on SiriusXM. This is Fredo Cuomo talking about his job on CNN.

FREDO: I don’t want to spend my time doing things that I don’t think are valuable enough to me, personally.

RUSH: All right.

FREDO: I don’t like what I do professionally, I’ve decided.

RUSH: Right.

FREDO: I don’t value indulging irrationality, hyperpartisanship.

RUSH: Right.

FREDO: I don’t think it’s worth my time.

RUSH: Um, okay. So, look, it could be the virus talking. Could be two weeks of being cooped up. Could be any number of things. (interruption) Well, yeah, he did say he’s sick of CNN, and he calls… Hyperpartisan? You know what’s fascinating? There is no hyperpartisanship at CNN because they never get somebody that disagrees with them there.

The hyperpartisanship at CNN is constant, but it’s not as though you face opponents in debate all the time. CNN doesn’t do that. CNN is devoted to trashing and destroying Donald Trump, and everything they do, every guest they have is focused on that. Now, maybe that’s what Fredo is reacting to, but he didn’t say that. Here’s the next bite.

FREDO: I don’t want some jackass loser, fat-tire biker to get in my face and in my space and talk bull(bleep) to me. I don’t want to hear it. Some cat just basically pulls up in the driveway next to yours and starts getting in your face about that stuff? How’s that gonna go? How’s that gonna go? That matters to me more than making millions of dollars a year. That matters to me more. Why? Because I’ve saved my money.

RUSH: “Oh, I don’t need the money. I have saved my money — and the fact that I can’t get in some biker’s face…” Well, who says he can’t? Could you go grab sound bite number 23. This is August 11th last year — no shutdown — and Fredo is out on Shelter Island with his family, and somebody who’s the equivalent of a fat biker showed up and got in his face.

MAN #1: (background noise) I thought… I thought that’s who you were.

FREDO: No! Punk ass bitches from the right call me “Fredo.” My name is Chris Cuomo. I’m an anchor on CNN.

MAN #1: Oh, you’re much —

FREDO: Fredo is from The Godfather. He was that weak brother!

MAN #1: Isn’t that your brother though?

FREDO: And they use it as an Italian aspersion. Any of you Italian?

MAN #1: I’m a little bit, I guess.

FREDO: Are you Italian?

MAN #1: I got a little bit, yeah.

FREDO: It’s a f(bleep)ing insult to your people!

MAN #2: (pause)

FREDO: It’s an insult to your f(bleep)ing people!

MAN #2: (from off camera) I didn’t know that.

FREDO: It’s an insult to your f(bleep)ing people. It’s like the N-word for us!

MAN #1: Wow.

FREDO: So is that a cool f(bleep)ing thing?

MAN #1: You are a much more reasonable guy in person than you seem to be on television.

FREDO: Yeah, well, if you want to play, then we’ll f(bleep)ing play! You got something you want to say about what I do on television, then say it. But you don’t have to call me a f(bleep)ing insult!

MAN #1: Hey, man…

FREDO: What? What? What?

MAN #1: Hey, listen I don’t want any problems, bro.

FREDO: Yeah? You’re gonna have a big f(bleep)ing problem!

MAN #1: What’s the problem?

FREDO: It’s a little different on TV.

MAN #1. What’s the problem?

FREDO: Don’t f(bleep)ing insult me like that!

MAN #1: I didn’t insult you.

FREDO: You call me Fredo! It’s like I call you “punk bitch.” You like that?

MAN #1: No, I —

FREDO: You want that to be your nickname?

MAN #1: I didn’t call you that. I — I —

FREDO: You called me Fredo! You know my name is not f(bleep)ing Fredo!

MAN #1: I thought your name was!

FREDO: You did not think my name was f(bleep)ing Fredo! Don’t be a liar!

MAN #1: I thought your name was Fredo.

FREDO: You want to be a liar, then stand up like a man!

MAN #1: I’m standing up, man.

FREDO: You want to be a man? I’m here!

MAN #1: Yeah, I’m standing up.

FREDO: Then f(bleep)ing own it! Then own what you said!

MAN #1: Hey, listen, man —

FREDO: (shoves citizen)

MAN #1: Hey!

FREDO: Then own what you said!

MAN #1: Listen, man. I don’t have a problem with you, man.

FREDO: Well, you are gonna have a f(bleep)in’ problem.

MAN #1: What? What are you gonna do about it?

FREDO: I’ll f(bleep)ing ruin your s(bleep)!

MAN #1: Let’s do something then.

FREDO: I’ll f(bleep)ing throw you down these stairs like a f(bleep)in’ punk!

MAN #1: Please do.

FREDO: Why, so you can —

MAN #3: You don’t wanna do that.

FREDO: — f(bleep)ing sue?

MAN #3: You don’t wanna do that.

FREDO: So you can f(bleep)in’ sue?

MAN #1: Well, why don’t you do it then?

FREDO: Go ahead! Take a swing at me! You want to call me Fredo? Take a f(bleep)ing swing!

MAN #1: I’m not gonna swing at you.

FREDO: Take a f(bleep)ing swing!

MAN #2: Watch your f(bleep)ing hands!

MAN #1: I’m not gonna swing.

(crosstalk)

FREDO: Take a swing!

MAN #3: Watch your f(bleep)ing hands!

MAN #1: (crosstalk) I’m not impressed.

FREDO: Take a swing. No, no. Come on, boy! Come on, boy! You want to call me s(bleep), call me s(bleeped) then!

MAN #1: Hey, listen, man —

FREDO: I’m right f(bleep)ing here!

MAN #1: I’m not doing anything.

FREDO: I’ll f(bleep)ing wreck your s(bleep)!

MAN #3: Just stop!

FREDO: I’ll f(bleep)ing wreck your s(bleep)!

MAN #3: Chris, stop!

FREDO: You didn’t know what you were doing when you called me Fredo?

MAN #1: I thought it was your name!

RUSH: (laughing) The only thing that happened was some guy walked up to him in Shelter Island and said, “Aren’t you Fredo Cuomo?” (laughing) That’s all that happened — and who else calls him Fredo but me? So whoever went and called him Fredo obviously listens to this program. But that’s all it was. So it sounds to me… This is why I’m saying that what Fredo said on the radio yesterday, I really don’t take it into account.

It’s a result of having the virus and being cooped up because last August some guy walks up, “Hey, you’re Fredo Cuomo?” and he got in his face and he didn’t take it and he told the guy what he wanted to. It didn’t bother him at all. He didn’t think he couldn’t do it. So the idea that you can’t tell some “fat-tire biker,” whatever, where to put things?

It’s not actually true, ’cause, Fredo — we’ve got the evidence — has already done it, last year on Shelter Island.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: After that Fredo rant, isn’t it strange they try to tell us that Trump is the one who’s unhinged?