The White House condemned Fox News Host Greg Gutfeld for making antisemitic comments while on air. The network and President Joe Biden’s administration have never seen eye-to-eye, and the White House did not hold back from criticizing the host for his assertions.

Gutfeld made the comments during a debate on Fox’s The Five about Florida’s new African-American history curriculum. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) recently championed new policies that mandate students be instructed that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

The rule sparked outrage across the country and even prompted a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris, who traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, to denounce the governor’s measure.

Gutfeld’s co-host, Jessica Tarlov, compared Florida’s new standards to teaching that Jewish people benefited from being imprisoned during the Holocaust. Gutfelt then mentioned the work of Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist who wrote about his struggle for survival at multiple Nazi camps, including Auschwitz.

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“Did you ever read Mans Search for Meaning?” asked Gutfeld. “Vik Frankl talks about how you had to survive in a concentration camp by having skills. You had to be useful. Utility. Utility kept you alive.”

Tarlov, a Jewish woman, did not acknowledge Gutfeld’s comment but continued to voice her concern for the middle school children in Florida.

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Andrew Bates released a statement criticizing Fox News for allowing Gutfeld to make such a comment on air.

Bates described Gutfeld’s statement as “a horrid, dangerous, extreme lie that insults the memory of the millions of Americans who suffered from the evil of enslavement. There was nothing good about slavery; there was nothing good about the Holocaust.”

This is not the first time a Fox News host has sparked controversy. In April, the network paid $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems for broadcasting false information about election fraud in 2020. In addition, far-right sentiments from people like Tucker Carlson have prompted advertisers to stop supporting the program.

Fox News has not commented on Gutfeld’s recent statement.

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Article by Ava Lombardi