CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow was slammed for finding a silver lining in the wake of the disaster in Japan, expressing

relief that the human toll was greater than the economic toll.

The bespectacled host made the remark Friday during a report about the global markets that showed the Dow Jones, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 performing well despite the disaster.

"The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll, and we can be grateful for that," Kudlow said.

Kudlow -- seemingly realizing the gaffe – quickly backed off those comments, saying that "the human toll is a tragedy; we all know that" before being cut off by co-host Trish Regan.

The comment was particularly ill-timed as a small screen graphic announcing the likely death toll appeared as he was making the remark.

Commentators and media reporters quickly ripped the host for his insensitivity.

"In these tough economic times, isn’t it nice to know that calamitous natural disasters needn’t have an adverse affect on your investment portfolio?" wrote Vanity Fair's Jaime Lalinde.

Kudlow later tweeted an apology.

"I did not mean to say human toll in Japan less important than economic toll," he wrote. "Talking about markets I flubbed the line. Sincere apology."