Between “Fox & Friends,” “The Five” and the nighttime lineup, a lot of controversial things get said on Fox News. There are several websites that track many of the comments made on the pro-right network that offers more opinion than news during those shows.
Honestly, the commentary comes so fast and furious that it’s almost too much to track. Most days, I figure, why give the more outrageous remarks any oxygen? Why repeat something that many people didn’t see in the first place?
But, occasionally, someone on Fox says something that must be called out, or at least questioned.
Such is the case on Monday’s episode of “The Five,” when Greg Gutfeld, who also hosts a show in prime time, made comments about the Holocaust that are being condemned in many circles.
It all started over the topic about how Florida’s new education curriculum includes language about “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
That’s when panelist Jessica Tarlov, who typically takes a more liberal point of view, said, “’I’m not Black, but I’m Jewish. Would someone say about the Holocaust, for instance, that there were some benefits for Jews? That while they were hanging out in concentration camps, they learned a strong work ethic? That maybe you learned a new skill.”
That’s when Gutfeld interrupted to mention psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Frankl’s book talked about his time in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
Gutfeld said, “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!”
Gutfeld’s remarks were widely condemned.
The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum put out a lengthy statement, which included, “While it is true that some Jews may have used their skills or usefulness to increase their chances of survival during the Holocaust, it is essential to contextualize this statement properly and understand that it does not represent the complex history of the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany.”
It added, “Being skilled or useful did not spare (Jewish people) from the horrors of the gas chambers.”
It also said, “While it is accurate to acknowledge that some Jews may have survived temporarily due to their perceived usefulness, it is crucial to remember that the Holocaust was a systematic genocide with the ultimate aim of exterminating the entire Jewish population. It would be more appropriate to say that some Jews survived the Holocaust because they were considered temporarily useful, and the circumstances of the Nazi regime’s collapse prevented their murder.”
And it concluded with, “We should avoid such oversimplifications in talking about this complex tragic story.” (I encourage you to read the statement in its entirety.)
In a statement to CNN’s Oliver Darcy and several other news outlets, deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates called what Gutfeld said an “obscenity.”
Bates, who certainly is no fan of Fox News, added, “In defending a horrid, dangerous, extreme lie that insults the memory of the millions of Americans who suffered from the evil of enslavement, a Fox News host told another horrid, dangerous and extreme lie that insults the memory of the millions of people who suffered from the evils of the Holocaust. Let’s get something straight that the American people understand full well and that is not complicated: There was nothing good about slavery; there was nothing good about the Holocaust. Full stop. Americans deserve to be brought together, not torn apart with poison. And they deserve the truth and the freedom to learn, not book bans and lies.”
Meanwhile, an unnamed Fox News producer told The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona, “Obviously, it is a disgusting thing to say. … Just generally speaking, I’m amazed that FOX has any ability to retain employees from multicultural backgrounds. Our workplace is shockingly diverse given the vitriol that often makes it to the air. Understand that they’re likely here for the same reasons I am, these jobs are scarce, but I can’t help but feel awful for them because they undoubtedly see this nonsense and can’t do anything to stop it.”
The Anti-Defamation League also put out a statement, saying, “It is not clear from Gutfeld’s comments if he is arguing that Jews learned skills in the Holocaust, or that Jews who had skills had a better chance of staying alive. The latter is something that is well-documented, while the former is nonsense. That said, many millions of Jews, who, in Gutfeld’s words, had ‘utility,’ were still murdered.”
Whatever Gutfeld’s intentions were, it came out poorly and thoughtlessly. It probably would have been wisest to not have commented on Tarlov’s point at all. Even though he gets paid to talk, sometimes it’s OK for him to keep his mouth shut. In addition, it also was disappointing, although not surprising, that after all the criticism, Gutfeld did not feel the need to at least address the issue on Tuesday’s “The Five.”
