Christiane Amanpour compares Trump administration ‘assault on values’ to Kristallnacht
A CNN documentary on religious extremists by Christiane Amanpour has prompted an unprecidented outcry from American Jewish groups.
By David Ian Klein November 13, 2020
Christiane Amanpour, the long-time foreign correspondent and host of Amanpour on CNN International, compared the Trump administration’s policies to Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom that announced Hitler’s policy of violence against Jews, on her show earlier this week.
“This week 82 years ago Kristallnacht happened, it was the Nazi’s warning shot across the bow of our human civilization that led to genocide against an entire identity,” Amanpour said. “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.”
Jewish figures and organizations on Twitter accused her of and minimizing the severity of the Holocaust, and hijacking its memory in the service of contemporary politics.
Hey @CNN @camanpour please stop using the horrors of the Holocaust to justify an agenda.
Our suffering is not yours to play political ping pong with. https://t.co/MIW2qKxuHP
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) November 13, 2020
Despicable. @camanpour compares verbal fact checking of a POTUS to a Nazi pogrom in which dozens of Jews were murdered. Amanpour uses the book burning of Kristallnacht to reach this comparison thus ignoring the overall deadliness and human cost of the night. @CNNPR @PBS https://t.co/6HBi0nvKnc
— OJPAC (@OJPAC) November 13, 2020
Her comments also caught the attention of the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
These people are truly despicable. https://t.co/ACOzMlq07g
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 13, 2020
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to a Jewish society at Yale exposed deep rifts between US Jews
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.