CNN bans conservative writer after ‘beeper’ comment to Muslim commentator

CNN bans conservative writer Ryan Girdusky from its network following a contentious on-air exchange where he told panelist Mehdi Hasan that “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”

“Did you just say I should die?” Hasan said, responding to Girdusky’s apparent reference to September’s attack where pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria exploded simultaneously. The attack was widely believed to be carried out by Israel.

Hasan and Girdusky were on a panel on “NewsNight” last night, talking about Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, where speakers made a variety of racist comments and referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” The panel discussion devolved into back-and-forth bickering after Girdusky said to Hasan, a commentator and founder of the media company Zeteo, that “you’ve been called an antisemite more than anyone else at this table.”

Host Abby Phillip said that Girdusky’s beeper comment was “completely out of pocket” and he apologized. But after a commercial break, he was gone.

CNN, saying there is “zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air,” says that Girdusky will not be allowed back on the network.

Girdusky responds in a post on X: “You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi” but apparently can’t “if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.”