Sanchez Fired After Calling Jon Stewart a Bigot

Host of 'Rick's List' called Jon Stewart a bigot.

ByABC News
October 2, 2010, 12:11 PM

Oct. 2, 2010— -- CNN news anchor Rick Sanchez has been fired by the network after he called Jon Stewart a bigot and questioned whether Jewish people should be considered a minority.

Sanchez, the host of CNN's "Rick's List," made the comments Thursday on the radio show "Stand Up! With Pete Dominick" in reaction to a recent jab that Stewart made at him on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

When Sanchez reported that he'd received a tweet from House Republican leader John Boehner, Stewart called it a case of "send a twit a tweet."

"He's upset that someone of my ilk is almost at his level," Sanchez said of Stewart in an interview with Dominick, adding that he feels that Stewart is bigoted toward "everybody else that's not like him."

Sanchez, who was born in Cuba, went on to say that Stewart "can't relate to what I grew up with," and said how, as he was growing up, his family was poor and his father was the victim of prejudice.

Dominick, who is also a CNN contributor and was once the warm-up comic for "The Daily Show," pointed out that Stewart, who is Jewish, comes from a minority group. Sanchez dismissed the notion.

"I'm telling you that everyone who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah," Sanchez said.

"I can't see someone not getting a job these days because they're Jewish," he added.

Dominick pressed Sanchez during the heated interview, and eventually Sanchez backed down on his use of the word bigot.

"OK. I'll take bigot back ... (Stewart is) prejudicial," Sanchez said. Stewart is "not just a comedian," he said. "He can make and break careers."

The details of the interview were posted on the news and opinion website Mediaite on Friday and quickly became a hot topic.

CNN issued the following statement late Friday: "Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well."