CNN’s chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, has apologized on air for her recent comments comparing US President Donald Trump’s tenure in office to the Kristallnacht pogroms in Nazi Germany.
Speaking on Monday at the end of her show, Amanpour reacted to the resulting public uproar:
“I observed the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, as I often do. It is the event that began the horrors of the Holocaust,” she said. “I also noted President Trump’s attacks on history, facts, knowledge, and truth. I should not have juxtaposed the two thoughts. Hitler and his evils stand alone, of course, in history. I regret any pain my statement may have caused.
“My point,” Amanpour continued, “was to say how democracy can potentially slip away, and how we must always zealously guard our democratic values.”
HonestReporting detailed the initial offensive remarks, and invited readers to contact CNN to demand an apology.
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The same demand was made by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister, Omer Yankelevich, who penned a letter sent to CNN President Jeffrey Zucker calling on Amanpour to issue an “immediate and public apology” for her “unacceptable comparison.”
Another Israeli official, Consul General in Atlanta Anat Sultan-Dadon, similarly wrote to CNN’s Executive Vice President, Rick Davis, to express her disgust at Amanpour invoking the Holocaust seemingly to advance a political agenda.
Thanks to the support of great swaths of the Jewish community, both in Israel and abroad, and HonestReporting’s many committed partners, in conjunction with Israeli diplomats and other Jewish organizations, CNN and Amanpour heard us loud and clear.
We can only hope that this incident is remembered moving forward and that the news outlet and its journalists strive to avoid even the appearance of exploiting the Holocaust for any purpose.
At a time when the genocide of 6 million Jews appears to be slowly fading from the public’s collective consciousness, it is even more likely that people will deny, distort or cynically use the tragedy to promote some aim.
It is our duty to ensure that the truth be told about this most dreadful period in Jewish — and human — history.
