Rick Sanchez gave a radio interview on the day that he lost his coveted 8 p.m. timeslot. That was probably a mistake.
Angry about being replaced by CNN's new "Parker Spitzer" talk show and the constant jokes made at his expense on the "Daily Show," he lashed out on Thursday at his perceived enemies -- CNN brass, Jon Stewart and Jews.
Sanchez went on Pete Dominick's Sirius XM show to promote his new book, "Conventional Idiocy." While on air, he called Stewart a "bigot," implied that CNN is controlled by Jews and that the network passed him over for promotion because he's Latino.
Sanchez was chosen to fill-in on CNN at 8 p.m. in the wake of Campbell Brown's departure in May. CNN did not chose him as a permanent replacement for Brown. Last night was Sanchez's last in the prime time slot. CNN's new talk show "Parker Spitzer" will debut on Monday. CNN insiders have told TheWrap that Sanchez feels he has been passed over and blamed the decision not to give him 8 p.m. on a permanent basis on his race. Sanchez is Cuban-American.
Sanchez's controversial comments began when he suggested that he had been marginalized by CNN brass because they're "elite Northeastern establishment liberals" who won't let him anchor because they reserve the top jobs for "the high-profile white guys:"
Here's what Sanchez had to say about his experiences with prejudice at CNN:
"It's not just the Right that does this. 'Cause I've known a lot of elite, Northeast establishment Liberals that may not use this as a business model, but deep down, when they look at a guy like me, they look at a ... they see a guy automatically who belongs in the second tier and not the top tier ... White folks usually don't see it, but we do, those of us who are minorities ... Here, I'll give you my example, it's this, 'You know what, I don't want you anchoring anymore. I really don't see you as an anchor, I see you more as a reporter. I see you more as a John Quinones' You know, the guy on ABC. Thats what he told me, he told me he saw me as John Quinones. Now, did he not realize that he was telling me, 'when i see you i think of Hispanic reporters?' 'Cause in his mind, I can't be an anchor, an anchor's what you give the high profile white guys."
In his interview with Dominick, Sanchez went on to say that prejudice and discrimination "happen all the time" in the media establishment and he pointed at the "Daily Show:"
"It happens all the time. I think to a certain extent, Jon Stewart and Colbert are the same way. I think Jon Stewart's a bigot ... Yeah, I think he's a bigot … I think he looks at the world through his mom who was a schoolteacher and his dad who was a physicist, or something like that.
