The Long Island bicyclist who got into a verbal spat with CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Easter Sunday said the host was like a ‘boiling pot’ as he was confronted for not self-quarantining.
David Whelan claimed that he had decided to go on a bike ride near where Cuomo is building his new home because he grew up in the area.
‘I go by, down the trail that runs past where his new structure is being built and there’s a bunch of people there,’ Whelan told Fox News. ‘I’ve been riding for seven or eight miles, take a little break, and am just walking. And a woman says “May I help you?” I said “No, I’m just looking”.’
David Whelan claimed that he had decided to go on a bike ride near where Cuomo is building his new home because he grew up in the area
It was then that Whelan noticed Cuomo from far away, just under two weeks after the host announced that he had tested positive with the coronavirus. Cuomo was with his family at the time
It was then that Whelan noticed Cuomo from far away, just under two weeks after the host announced that he had tested positive with the coronavirus on March 31.
‘I think his next words were, “What the hell do you know about this? What do you know about the rules?”,’ the cyclist claimed.
‘He continued to come closer and closer, and I would like to say he’s like a boiling pot, you could see his head.
‘He was just getting more and more angry. And I said, “So are you gonna lose your temper like you did on the guy at Shelter Island?”‘
During an event in the Hamptons last year, Cuomo got into an altercation with a man who called him ‘Fredo,’ a reference to the younger Corleone brother in ‘The Godfather.’
‘I think his next words were, “What the hell do you know about this? What do you know about the rules?”,’ the cyclist claimed. ‘He continued to come closer and closer, and I would like to say he’s like a boiling pot, you could see his head’
Whelan did not specify whether he wore a mask on the day of his confrontation with Cuomo but did note that the host nor none of the people he was with had on gloves or mask
Cuomo threatened the man, claiming that he had used an ‘anti-Italian’ slur against him.
Whelan claimed that Cuomo continued venting at him, noting that the host never got closer than six feet but did step towards him during the confrontation.
‘But he [Cuomo] told me he was going to meet me, and he goes “You are going to meet me over this, you will meet me again over this”. At that point, he’s now getting about 40 feet away,’ Whelan said.
Whelan was asked if he had gotten tested for the virus and asserted that while his daughter was a doctor at Johns Hopkins University, normal people could not get tested.
‘For most normal people, you can’t get tested,’ Whelan said. ‘I made my own mask weeks ago, I hit it with alcohol every day.’
Whelan did not specify whether he wore a mask on the day of his confrontation with Cuomo but did note that the host nor none of the people he was with had on gloves or mask.
Chris, his wife Cristina, and their son Mario Cuomo, 14, all tested positive for coronavirus although the couple have since recovered.
The CNN anchor posted footage on his Instagram on April 20 showing him walking up the stairs to greet his kids at his Hamptons mansion, three weeks after he went into ‘quarantine’ to recover from coronavirus.
‘This is the dream. Just to be back up here doing normal things,’ he said as he embraced his wife Cristina, who had also since recovered from COVID-19.
Cristina, center, Chris, top left, and Mario Cuomo, bottom right, have all tested positive for coronavirus but their two daughters remain healthy. Chris and Cristina have recovered
But Cuomo was accused of staging the clip after he revealed he left his home on Easter Sunday – two weeks after testing positive – and confronted a ‘fat biker’ who asked him why he wasn’t in quarantine.
He confirmed the altercation in an interview with Sirius XM on April 13. He said he wants to be able to act like any other member of the public and told the biker to ‘go to hell’.
‘I don’t want some jackass, loser, fat tire biker being able to pull over and get in my space and talk bullshto me, I don’t want to hear it,’ he added.
According to her husband, Cristina’s symptoms included a loss of smell and taste, which Chris said that, based on anecdotal evidence, appeared to be more common in milder cases of the illness.
Chris’ side-effects, meanwhile, were said to be more severe, including a fever so extreme that he chipped a tooth while shivering.
In a statement released after the story of the encounter broke, CNN said: ‘Chris has said emphatically that this has never happened.
‘Chris was following all social distancing guidelines and wearing a mask in his own backyard with his immediate family members. A complete stranger approached them from their own private driveway, in order to curse at Chris in front of his wife and children.’