New York – After being blasted for its abysmal coverage of the presidential race, CNN has found itself in the hot seat once again, this time for an onscreen caption that questioned whether Jews are human.
The caption, known as a chyron, appeared on Monday afternoon during a segment of the network’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, a daily news program.
The Lead’s Jewish host, James Tapper, was off for the day and it was CNN correspondent James Sciutto who in the anchor’s chair when the onscreen message appeared, reported The Daily Dot.
Sciutto was discussing President-elect Donald Trump’s relationship with white supremacists, also known as the “alt-right,” with his guests, two political commentators.
The shocking chyron came on screen as Sciutto was referencing remarks made Sunday by white supremacist Richard Spencer, where he charged that the media was controlled by Jews, questioning their humanity.
“One wonders if these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem,” said Spencer at a Washington D.C. rally.
The chyron that appeared on screen during the discussion read “Alt-right founder questions if Jews are people,” prompting outrage from many, including program host Jake Tapper.
The caption, which had many wondering if CNN itself was questioning the humanity of Jews, remained on the lower portion of the screen for over two and a half minutes.
A furious Tapper who himself is Jewish took to Twitter, condemning the chyron as “unacceptable,” reported Raw Story.
Sciutto offered his own criticism of the caption which he described as “out of line.”
A CNN spokesperson admitted that the chyron was in poor taste and apologized for the caption, which sparked a deluge of comments on Twitter.
“Who decided to run the “are jews people” segment on @CNN and what measures are being taken to remove them from that position?” questioned Samuel Sinyangwe.
“@CNN asks, “Are Jews People?” Don’t need to ask, “Is CNN Journalism?” because the answer for a long time has been (obscenity) no,” tweeted Frank Conniff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCbOlXaNruY&ab_channel=IAmUnstoppable
