A cable news discussion on “CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip” on Monday night took a shocking turn when conservative panelist Ryan Girdusky attacked journalist Mehdi Hasan, leading to the former to get banned from the network.
During a discussion about Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, Girdusky told Hasan “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” referencing the recent Israeli attacks against members of the terrorist group Hezbollah in which explosives were detonated in pagers. The comment came after Hasan said that he is a “supporter of the Palestinians.”
Hasan, a journalist who is Muslim and is the founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo News, was shocked by the statement, asking, “Did you just say I should die?”
CNN quickly released a statement, posted on social media by Phillip, banning Girdusky from the network.
“There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air,” the statement said. “We aim to foster thoughtful conversations and debate including between people who profoundly disagree with each other in order to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding. But we will not allow guests to be demeaned or for the line of civility to be crossed. Ryan Girdusky will not be welcomed back at our network.”
After the segment, Phillip announced she had dismissed Girdusky during the commercial break, saying, “There is a line that was crossed there, and it‘s not acceptable to me. It‘s not acceptable to us at this network. We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other, to talk to each other. But when you cross the line of a complete lack of civility, that is not going to happen here on this show. It‘s a heated time. We‘re in the middle of a political season. We are eight days from a presidential election, but we can have conversations about what is happening in this country without resorting to the lowest of the lowest kind of discourse.”
Girdusky attacked the network after CNN’s decision, writing on X that “You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media. Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.”