November 27, 2020
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour has raised a stink by equating President Trump’s tenure to Kristallnacht, the 1938 attack on Jews in Nazi Germany seen as the start of the Holocaust.
Amanpour, whose husband is Jewish, quickly apologized.
In Israel, a cabinet assailed Amanpour and in New York a prominent Jewish organization criticized Amanpour for her remarks, made November 13 on her nightly interview program that airs on CNN International and PBS.
Amanpour noted the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, saying it was a significant turning point in the process “that led to genocide against a whole identity.”
“That tower of burning books led to an assault on fact, knowledge, history and truth,” Amanpour said, as images of book-burnings played next to her.
“After four years of a modern-day assault on those same values by Donald Trump, the Biden/Harris team pledges a return to norms, including the truth,” she said.
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevitch said the US news network “should be a partner in the global effort to fight antisemitism and not fuel the fire.”
“Using the memory of the Holocaust for cheap headlines or a political agenda is concerning and distorts the historical and moral truth,” Yankelevich said.
The American Jewish Committee’s CEO, David Harris, said it was odd that Amanpour didn’t mention that the Nazi’s targets that night were Jews. While she’s entitled to her opinion about Trump, bringing up Kristallnacht represented a “misuse of history,” he said.
Former Israeli consul-general in New York Danny Dayan tweeted that “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 called Amanpour’s remarks “despicable,” and said the CNN anchor “must apologize for trivializing the Holocaust & the tragic genocide of millions of Jews. They must also apologize for slandering the most pro-Israel President in history,” she said.
Amanpour, on her next show, said she regretted any pain that her remarks caused. “I should not have juxtaposed the two thoughts,” she said. “Hitler and his evils stand alone, of course, in history.”