Rick Sanchez Apologizes on GMA: "I Have to Stand Up and Be Responsible"

Rick Sanchez says he screwed up.

"It was wrong for me to be so careless and so inartful, but it happened and now, I have to stand up and be responsible for it, just like I teach my kids," the former CNN anchor told ABC's Good Morning America during his first television interview since he was fired.

Rick Sanchez publicly apologizes for "inartful" comments

CNN fired the 52-year-old Rick's List host a week ago after he called Jon Stewart a "bigot" and suggested that Jews run the media during a radio interview.

"First of all, that's not what I meant, second of all, I apologize," he told GMA's George Stephanopoulos. 
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Sanchez says that at the time of the radio interview, he had a chip on his shoulder because of the current prime-time cable news landscape. "There's not a single Hispanic, a single Asian American, or a single African American," he said. "I was wrong to scapegoat Jon Stewart ... I externalized the problem and put it on Jon Stewart's shoulders," he says.

Rick Sanchez let go from CNN after calling Jon Stewart a "bigot"

Sanchez says that when he called Stewart to apologize, he asked, "Why do you always pick on me?" He says Stewart responded, "Because you're the one I like." "He's the classiest guy in the world," Sanchez added.

While Sanchez makes it clear he takes full responsibility for the comments, he does hope to one day return to the network. "If CNN ever takes me back, I'd be happy to go back," he said.

Watch the interview below.