CNN host Christiane Amanpour has been criticised for appearing to draw parallels between President Donald Trump’s “assault on values” and the Kristallnacht pogrom.

”This week 82 years ago, Kristallnacht happened,” CNN’s chief international correspondent said in her introduction to the network’s flagship show “Amanpour”. 

“It was the Nazis’ warning shot across the bow of our human civilization that led to genocide against a whole identity, and in that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history and truth.

“After four years of a modern-day assault on those same values by Donald Trump, the Biden-Harris team pledges a return to norms, including the truth.”

Amid a chorus of criticism, the nonprofit group StopAntisemitism.org called on Ms Amanpour and CNN to “please stop using the horrors of the Holocaust to justify an agenda.”

“Our suffering is not yours to play political ping pong with,” the group said.

The White House, which has itself faced accusations of racism, also criticised the host and network.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany demanded an apology “for trivialising the Holocaust and the tragic genocide of millions of Jews”. 

“They must also apologize for slandering the most pro-Israel President in history as they themselves make an anti-democratic political enemies list,” she said.

Commemorations were held earlier this week to mark the anniversary of the pogrom, which saw attacks on Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues carried out across Nazi Germany, Australia and the Sudetenland.

Amanpour has received many accolades through the course of her career, including several  Emmy and Peabody awards, and was named CBE in 2007 for her services to journalism.