CNN anchors held a discussion that stunned even Democrats: They talked about the Jewishness of Democratic candidates as a factor in their electability.

Speaking about Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) and his possible run for the presidency, one anchor said, “He is Jewish; he might be the Democrat that can thread the needle, because even though he’s Jewish, he’s very critical of the Israeli government, very critical of Benjamin Netanyahu. He has credibility on that issue, so it’s possible that I think he could be — fill that lane in between the two extremes of the Democratic Party.”

In other words, Ossoff might be a Jew who might be acceptable to Democrats, because being Jewish is now a liability when running for office within the Democratic Party.

The second anchor disagreed.

“Ask Scott Wiener how that’s working out for him,” she said, referring to the outpouring of hate against the California congressional candidate from fellow Democrats harassing him out for supporting the supposed “genocide” Israel is committing in Gaza although he had adopted their stance on Israel specifically for the purpose of attracting voters.

But it was the third anchor, Elex Michaelson, who raised the most eyebrows.

“As a Jew, some people read a little more Jewish than other people, and John Ossoff may not read as Jewish as Josh Shapiro does, for whatever that’s worth,” he said.

The online reaction was swift and denunciatory, prompting Michaelson to post an apology on X saying, “I apologize. I made a comment that was offensive. Going forward, I’ll do better.”

But social media users are having none of it. In one representative comment, a poster wrote, “To me the problem isn’t what you said having been ‘offensive’, the problem is that what you said is an accurate reading of the way that the current Democratic Party electorate thinks. You’re only sorry that you accidentally acknowledged what’s obvious to the rest of us.”

Some critics pointed out that if you replace the word “Jew” and “Jewish” with “Black,” “Hispanic” or “Muslim,” the backlash would be far worse.

For example, HonestReporting posted, “Now imagine a CNN anchor saying some candidates ‘read more Muslim’ or ‘more Black,’ implying they’re less fit for higher office.”

One poster summed up the general consensus among critics best:

“What a deeply weird place the Democratic Party is in on this issue,” said Logan Dobson, a Republican strategist, pollster and campaign operative.