WASHINGTON (JTA) — The personal Web site of MSNBC commentator Pat Buchanan removed its discussion forums after a critic pointed out that the site was hosting a forum on Holocaust denial.
The "Buchanan Brigade Forum" on Buchanan.org disappeared earlier this week, just hours after a New York Daily News Op-Ed by Menachem Rosensaft on Tuesday noted the existence of a forum thread devoted to "Discussion about ‘The Holocaust.’" The thread included comments such as "there simply were not gas chambers or mass crematoriums at any of the German internment camps" and "I would like to see some rebuttal from Holocaust believers."
Rosensaft, general counsel at the World Jewish Congress and the son of Holocaust survivors, had criticized MSNBC in the column for employing Buchanan while it dumped Don Imus two years ago for making racially insensitive remarks.
It is not clear if Buchanan knew about the Holocaust denial thread. According to records of the forum saved by Rosensaft before it disappeared, it was started on March 27 by a registered member of the site under the topic of "Disinformation, Deception and Other Tricks." An e-mail to a site administrator for the Buchanan Web site, which also includes his syndicated columns and other news, went unanswered.
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