A correlation made on CNN between the near-epidemic novel Coronavirus and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has invoked a wave of anger on social media.

People online hit back at the commentary, made by anchor Michael Smerconish on his show, comparing it to 20th-century anti-Semitic sentiment whereby Jewish people in the US and Europe were likened to diseases.

Smerconish started his show with the question: "Can either coronavirus or Bernie Sanders be stopped?"

The CNN anchor apparently hoped to combine the two major stories for the day in one catchy headline, yet failed to notice its resemblance to Nazi propaganda that blamed Jewish people for deadly diseases during the 20th century.

But online commentators were quick to draw the parallel, perceiving his opening line to be anti-Semitic.

Normalizing antisemitic comparisons like these on cable news isn’t only irresponsible, it is #BadForTheJews, putting us in more danger. Everyone at CNN involved with this chyron should be held accountable. — IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) February 29, 2020

On his show, Michael Smerconish tried to link the outbreak of the coronavirus to the growing popularity of Senator Sanders who has been leading democratic polls and has won 3 out of 4 primary elections so far. According to Smerconish, both the coronavirus and Bernie Sanders' persistence are posing challenges to the Trump administration.

I am very disappointed in @CNN and @smerconish this morning. Anyone with half a brain knows there is a long history of equating Jewish people with diseases.



Shame on you! This was disgusting! — Sarah, always on time. (@SarahMLaird) February 29, 2020

Sorry, but Bernie is more powerful than the Coronavirus and, no, he can’t be stopped — Piper (@Lefty_Mind) February 29, 2020

With no clarifications or apologies on Smerconish's behalf so far, most Twitter users expressed their anger over CNN equating the Jewish democratic presidential candidate to the 2019 virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Many say that even if the headline didn't stem from an anti-Semitic place, it was still a reminder to people of Jewish descent of what their ancestors endured as a result of racist rhetoric that depicted them in a negative light.