CNN anchor Chris Cuomo offered an apology on Twitter Thursday afternoon after he compared the term "fake news," used against him and other members of the media by President Donald Trump, to racial slurs like the "n-word." In an interview with Michael Smerconish on SiriusXM POTUS, Cuomo said, “The only thing that’s bothersome about it, is that I see being called ‘fake news’ as the equivalent of the 'n-word' for journalists, the equivalent of calling an Italian any of the ugly words that people have for that ethnicity." He added, "It is an ugly insult and you better be right if you’re going to charge a journalist with lying on purpose and the president was not right here and he has not been right in the past."

Trump tweeted the "fake news" charge against Cuomo earlier Thursday morning, claiming the anchor had failed to ask Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) about his military record while interviewing him about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, who reportedly told him he found the president's anti-judge comments "demoralizing." Cuomo responded on CNN by showing the clip in which he specifically asked the senator about that controversy. “The president, with all due respect, is once again off on the facts,” Cuomo said. But a few hours later, it was Cuomo was apologizing for the "n-word" comment he made, tweeting, "I was wrong. Calling a journalist fake -nothing compared to the pain of a racial slur. I should not have said it. I apologize."