CNN came under fire for an offending phrase that appeared on-screen during a discussion on the alt-right movement.
CNN ran a seemingly anti-Semitic on-screen banner on Monday which read “If Jews are people.”
The offending phrase appeared during a discussion between substitute host of The Lead Jim Sciutto and two journalists about President-elect Donald Trump’s support from the alt-right movement. The guests were asked if Trump should condemn their support.
The segment focused on white nationalist leader Richard Spencer and his anti-Semitic declarations. “One wonders if these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem,” Spencer stated.
A CNN producer ran the lower third, “Alt-right leader questions if Jews are people.”
Sciutto called Spencer’s remarks “hate-filled garbage.”
CNN and host The Lead Jake Tapper apologized.
Tapper said it “horrified” him when it appeared during his show. The vacationing Tapper responded to outraged viewers with Twitter posts explaining he’s “furious.”
“I’m off today but that chyron is unacceptable and I immediately called my staff to convey that,” he wrote on Twitter.
Sciutto wrote that “the banner—which we don’t write from the chair—was out of line.”
CNN issued a statement calling the caption “poor judgment” and said it very much regrets it and apologizes.
One of the journalists on the show, the Boston Globe‘s Matt Viser, said Tuesday he was bombarded with messages calling him a “closet Nazi” because the caption appeared below him, leading people to think he is the white nationalist leader.
In related news, Trump condemned the alt-right and officially disassociated himself from their support and statements.
By: World Israel News Staff
AP contributed to this report