CNN anchor faces backlash after comparing Trump’s presidency to Kristallnacht

A CNN anchor has compared Trump’s time in the White House to Kristallnacht, sparking an angry backlash, the Jerusalem Post reported.

London-based anchor Christiane Amanpour made the remarks during an opening segment of the news programme on Friday.

Live on air, she said: “This week, 82 years ago, Kristallnacht happened. It was the Nazi’s warning shot across the bow of our human civilisation that lead to genocide against a whole identity and, in that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history and truth.”

“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.”

circa 1937: A banner reading ‘Deutsche, kauft nicht beim Juden’ (‘Germans, do not buy from Jews’) in front of the Fasanenstrasse Synagogue in Berlin, Germany. The synagogue was later burned by Nazis during the ‘Kristallnacht’ riots on November 9, 1938. (Photo by Anthony Potter Collection/Getty Images)

Amanpour made the remarks while images of the aftermath of Kristallnacht and videos of book-burnings taking place in Germany at the time, played behind her.

Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, because of the broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owned businesses, homes and synagogues were smashed, was a series of violent Nazi pogroms that were a precursor to the Holocaust.

In response to the remarks, Israel’s Consul-General in Atlanta, Anat Sultan-Dadon, wrote to CNN requesting a formal apology.

Israel: controversial nomination for head of Holocaust memorial 

Sultan-Dadon’s letter, which was seen by the Jerusalem Post, explained the events of Kristallnacht, when 90 Jews were killed and 30,000 rounded up and deported to concentration camps.

The letter said it was outrageous Amanpour had attempted to use the Holocaust for political means, adding that her remarks were disrespectful to those who perished.

Meanwhile, Omer Yankelevich, the Israeli minister for diaspora affairs, also demanded CNN formally apologise.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Yankelevich as saying yesterday that CNN “should be a partner in the global effort to fight anti-Semitism and not fuel the fire”.

Adding, “Using the memory of the Holocaust for cheap headlines or a political agenda is concerning and distorts the historical and moral truth.”

Amanpour’s comments also sparked a backlash on Twitter, with users calling the CNN anchor “foolish”.

While other’s questioned how Amanpour could make the comments after 70 million Americans voted to re-elect US President Donald Trump in last week’s election.

One user wrote: “How on earth can this be tolerated if 70 million Americans voted for Trump? This is close to inciting riot.”

Ex UN official: Censoring facts on Palestine a tool to ensure the dominance of the Zionist narrative, PBA counters this