Greg Gutfeld may be the unlikely king of late night TV, and not just because all other late night TV shows are on hiatus during the WGA strike. (Of course his writers aren’t union members.) But he does double duty on the network. He’s also one of the quintet on The Five, where he gets to say all manner of edgy, stupid stuff during the late afternoon, too. For instance, on Monday he said some deeply offensive stuff about the Holocaust that’s even pissing off some of his Fox News colleagues.
Greg Gutfeld downplayed the horrors of the Holocaust by paraphrasing Viktor Frankl. "Jews survived by being useful." Gutfeld leaves out that millions died in concentration camps the day they got off the trains. Gutfeld said this to his Jewish co-worker Jessica Tarlov. pic.twitter.com/tSsrLW6nJe
— Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) July 24, 2023
The gang was talking about Florida’s decision to whitewash the teaching of slavery in America, with new curriculum that claims slaves at least got to learn some job training while being treated as property. Governor Ron DeSantis has defended it, and so has The Five’s Jesse Watters, who sat there on Monday’s show as Gutfeld basically told him to hold his beer.
During the segment, token liberal Jessica Tarlov said she was “uncomfortable” with the idea of junior high students being taught that slaves benefited from being slaves.
“Obviously, I’m not Black. But I’m Jewish. Would someone say, about the Holocaust, for instance, that there were some benefits for Jews, right?” she said. “While you were hanging out in concentration camps, you learned a strong work ethic, right? Maybe you learned a new skill?”
That prompted Gutfeld to butt in. “Did you ever read Man’s Search for Meaning?” referring to Viktor E. Frankel’s 1946 account of his experiences at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Gutfeld then cherry-picked a bit to make some kind of point, or whatever you’d call it. “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.”
Gutfeld’s comments earned widespread scorn, from the Anti-Defamation League, from the Auschwitz Museum, and from the White House. They also alarmed some at Fox News, who spoke to The Daily Beast under anonymity.
One “network insider” said Gutfeld’s latest comments have prompted a “lot of internal worry.” They also said the obvious: “At any other place, his career would be over.”
Another, who called his comment “disgusting,” gave some insight into how Fox News’ staff really operates:
“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.”
Yet another simply said, “Yikes.”
Will all that “internal worry” end with Gutfeld dethroned from his late night spot? Almost certainly not, even though Fox News did get rid of their biggest star. But if they do, Gutfeld should take note that Tucker Carlson isn’t doing so hot without such a sizeable platform. More importantly, it means Fox News won’t be randomly greeted with a visit from members of GWAR.
(Via The Daily Beast)