As it turns out, there are limits at CNN.
Host Christiane Amanpour apologized this week for comparing the Trump presidency to the informal launch of a genocide that killed an estimated 11 million Jews.
“I observed the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht,” said the CNN international anchor, “as I often do — it is the event that began the horrors of the Holocaust. I also noted President Trump’s attacks on history, facts, knowledge, and truth. I should not have juxtaposed the two thoughts.”
She added, “Hitler and his evils stand alone, of course, in history. I regret any pain my statement may have caused. My point was to say how democracy can potentially slip away, and how we must always zealously guard our democratic values.”
Amanpour is badly mistaken if she believes the overarching issue here is that people merely misunderstood her meaning, hearing something far worse than what she intended. We definitely understood her meaning. It was an exceptionally stupid and offensive thing to say, though she still does not seem to see it that way.
Her apology comes after White House and Israeli officials criticized her for leveraging the anniversary of Kristallnacht — “The Night of Broken Glass” — last week into a direct political attack on the president.
Israel Minister of Diaspora Affairs Omer Yankelevich, for example, accused Amanpour of looking to score “cheap headlines.”
“Using the memory of the Holocaust for cheap headlines or a political agenda is concerning and distorts the historical and moral truth,” he said, adding that CNN “should be a partner in the global effort to fight antisemitism and not fuel the fire.”
Israeli Consul-General in Atlanta Anat Sultan-Dadon “expressed outrage” in a private letter to CNN Executive Vice President Rick Davis “at Amanpour’s use of the Holocaust for political means, and said it disrespects those who perished,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
The Anti-Defamation League denounced Amanpour’s commentary, saying, “There’s no analogue between the Holocaust and what’s taking place in the U.S.”
The group added, “Pundits & politicians should avoid such facile comparisons. They are offensive & insensitive to the memory of the [Shoah].”
Former Israeli Consul-General in New York Danny Dayan said, “The foolish comparison Amanpour made between Kristallnacht and Trump must bring about her immediate dismissal from CNN. There is no immunity for Holocaust deniers.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany likewise characterized Amanpour’s remarks as “despicable,” adding that the CNN anchor “must apologize for trivializing the Holocaust and the tragic genocide of millions of Jews.”
Amanpour’s submission this week to the criticism has been a bit of a clarifying moment.
It has been an open question these past few weeks whether there are any standards at CNN. Miles Taylor, who lied on-air about whether he was the anonymous New York Times opinion writer, is still a paid CNN contributor. Likewise, Jeffery Toobin, who was fired recently from the New Yorker for masturbating in front of co-workers, is still employed as the cable network’s chief legal analyst.
Amanpour’s apology this week is a rare reminder that there are still some lines the network will not allow its staff to cross, though where that line is, exactly, is still a bit of a mystery.
