A far right commentator has been banned from appearing on CNN after he spewed a hateful, Islamophobic comment at journalist Mehdi Hasan on Monday night when Hasan expressed his support for Palestinian rights.
During a roundtable segment on Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden that commentators have likened to an infamous 1939 Nazi rally at the same venue for its bigoted and inciting message, Hasan said that right-wingers are exhibiting Nazi-like behaviors. The journalist and founder of news outlet Zeteo added that, on the other hand, as a “supporter of Palestinians,” he is used to being baselessly labeled as an antisemite.
In response, conservative writer and adviser Ryan Girdusky said, “well, I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
The statement referred to a horrific Israeli attack on Lebanon last month, in which thousands were injured and several killed, including a child, when pagers exploded en masse across the country. The comment elicited shock from others on the panel and the host, CNN’s Abby Phillip.
Hasan, in disbelief, responded: “Did you just say I should die? Did you just say I should be killed?”
“No, I did not say that. No, I did not say that,” Girdusky said. Then, when others called him out, Girdusky said, “are you a supporter of Hamas?” suggesting that that’s what Hasan meant when he said he supports Palestinian rights. “I thought he said Hamas, I apologize,” the conservative added.
“This is what we’re in now, this is America in 2024,” said Hasan. “Forget the racism — it’s, I should die.” As Girdusky tried to walk his statement back, Hasan added, “at least have the guts to support your racist comment.”
After the segment, Phillip said that Girdusky “cross[ed] the line of a complete lack of civility,” and CNN released a statement saying that Girdusky is banned from the network.
Later, on X, Girdusky complained about being banned, saying that his statement was a “joke” despite having tried to backtrack on it while on air. “Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for,” he wrote.
The statement, however, is not a “joke” as much as it is a bigoted comment that incites hate against Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians, as many advocates pointed out.
“This is abhorrent. It is disturbing to see Islamophobia casually on full display,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota). “The rise of hate crimes needs to be addressed and media cannot continue to allow it to have a platform to grow.”
Though Girdusky was unique in saying it live on a major news network, the “joke” has been repeated many times by Biden officials, members of Congress, and others supportive of Israel’s genocide and violence like the pager attack, which experts have said is a likely war crime. It is part of the open hatred that high-powered supporters of Israel have spewed against Arabs, Muslims and anyone supporting Palestinian rights that has skyrocketed in the past year.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) pointed out that, in fact, CNN and other major news outlets have helped to foment this racism, paving the way for such hatred as Girdusky’s to be spoken live on air.
“CNN has played a central role in normalizing this kind of open anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian hate, and it’s sadly totally unsurprising to see such disgusting statements aired so casually on its network now,” wrote Tlaib on social media.
Tlaib has been subjected to bigotry fomented by CNN before. Recently, CNN’s Jake Tapper accused Tlaib on air of making antisemitic comments about Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel. But the claim — that Tlaib said that Nessel couldn’t perform her job because she is Jewish — was false, and neither Nessel nor Tapper could offer any evidence to back it up.
Tapper and Nessel were seemingly twisting a comment Tlaib made this spring, when she criticized the democratic attorney general for deploying law enforcement to violently break up pro-Palestine student protests at the University of Michigan. Tlaib said nothing of Nessel’s identity.
Further, a recent investigation in The Guardian lent even more credence to Tlaib’s original point, finding that, in fact, the University of Michigan had specifically tapped Nessel to crack down on student protesters, believing she would be more harsh on them.