This is hilarious. I don't think this is xenophobia. Otherwise why is Idaho called eyedaho? Maybe its a regional thing or just ignorance.
But it's not like these folks didn't grow up with "Italy" and "Italian" being on the radio/TV all the time, spoken correctly by newscasters.
So there's a disconnect there, and it's also undeniable that there was an anti-Italian sentiment in the then-previous waves of naturalized immigrants. So I can't say for sure.