Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield will not host his weeknight primetime show for the rest of the week after calling Israel the “home country” of American Jews, according to Business Insider.
Stinchfield made the comments in a segment Tuesday night about continuing violence in Israel and Gaza.
A spokesperson for Newsmax told Insider that Stinchfield was off the air due to a previously scheduled vacation.
Stinchfield also criticized President Joe Biden for failing to speak out in support of Israel’s strikes on Gaza in retaliation for rockets launched by Hamas. Biden said Thursday that he had a “brief” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday and said “there has not been a significant overreaction [by Israel],” according to The Times of Israel.
Jake Tapper, the “State of the Union” host on CNN, criticized Stinchfield’s comments in a tweet Thursday.
Stinchfield responded in a quote tweet: “Hey @jaketapper your home country appears to be Disneyland! It’s the only way to explain your delusion about @joebiden and his sympathies for the terror group Hamas. And FYI I’m half Italian and yes I refer to Italy fondly as ‘The Home Country’.”