White House Condemns Greg Gutfeld for “Dangerous and Extreme” Holocaust Remarks on Fox News

Fox News host sparks outrage with incendiary comments comparing slavery and the Holocaust

The White House has slammed Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, calling his recent Holocaust remarks a “dangerous and extreme lie”, after he claimed that some Jewish people survived Nazi concentration camps by being “useful.”

His shocking statement, made during a panel discussion on Florida’s controversial new slavery curriculum, has ignited widespread outrage, with strong condemnations from the Auschwitz Museum, Jewish scholars, and critics across social media.

Gutfeld’s Shocking Holocaust Comment on Fox News

The controversy erupted during Monday’s episode of Fox News’ The Five, when co-hosts debated Florida’s new curriculum, which teaches middle school students that enslaved people gained “skills” that could benefit them later in life.

Fox News’ Jesse Watters defended the curriculum, arguing that:

“This is historical fact that slaves did develop skills while they were enslaved and then used those skills… to benefit themselves and their families once they were freed.”

As the discussion intensified, co-host Jessica Tarlov, who is Jewish, posed a direct question:

“Would someone say about the Holocaust, for instance, that there were some benefits for Jews? Right while they were hanging out in concentration camps – ‘you learned a strong work ethic, right? Maybe you learned a new skill.’”

Rather than rejecting the premise, Gutfeld doubled down, responding:

“Did you ever read Man’s Search for Meaning? Viktor 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.”

The audacious comparison immediately sparked outrage.

White House Slams Fox News’ Silence

By the following day, the White House issued a scathing response, blasting both Gutfeld’s comments and Fox News’ failure to condemn them.

“What Fox News allowed to be said on their air yesterday – and has so far failed to condemn – is an obscenity,” said Andrew Bates, Deputy White House Press Secretary.

“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.”

Bates made it clear:

“Let’s get something straight that the American people understand full well: there was nothing good about slavery; there was nothing good about the Holocaust. Full stop.”

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland also publicly rebuked Gutfeld, posting a six-paragraph response on Twitter:

“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.”

The museum stressed that Gutfeld’s words dangerously oversimplified history:

“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 because they were considered temporarily useful, and the circumstances of the Nazi regime’s collapse prevented their murder.”

Backlash Explodes: “A Scumbag” and “A Disgrace”

Gutfeld’s provocative rhetoric ignited fury online, especially within the Jewish community.

Jewish academic Shaiel Ben-Ephraim blasted Gutfeld:

“In an effort to explain how slavery benefitted African Americans, Greg Gutfeld of Fox News explains that the Jews who were useful survived the Holocaust. My family members who didn’t survive Auschwitz were just not useful enough to live. Right, Greg?”

Others took aim at Fox News advertisers, questioning why they continue to support such rhetoric.

A woman named Marlene Robertson tweeted:

“Scumbag Greg Gutfeld says that the Holocaust wasn’t all that bad because some Jews with skills survived. How the f** do advertisers, who keep Fox afloat, sleep at night?”*

Fox News in Decline? Ratings Drop Following Controversy

This firestorm comes as Fox News faces declining viewership, particularly after Jesse Watters replaced Tucker Carlson in the network’s primetime 8 p.m. slot.

Carlson, once the network’s biggest star, averaged 3.2 million nightly viewers before his sudden firing in April. In contrast, Watters’ new show debuted with only 2.4 million viewers—a staggering drop of 800,000.

Despite this, Watters still outperformed his competitors, with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes attracting 1.2 million viewers and CNN’s Anderson Cooper pulling in just 668,000.

However, this latest controversy surrounding Gutfeld and Fox News’ silence may further alienate viewers and increase public scrutiny on the network.

What’s Next?

With pressure mounting, Fox News has yet to issue a formal response to the Holocaust controversy.

Will the network condemn Gutfeld’s remarks, or will they stand by their host amid the backlash?

One thing is certain: the controversy isn’t fading anytime soon.