CNN had tendered an apology and said it had banned a conservative commentator from its network after he made on-air remarks toward a Muslim journalist – a comment the global news the outlet had described as racist.
The incident had occurred during a discussion on Monday evening over the rhetoric used in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s weekend in Madison Square Garden rally. The panelist and Trump supporter, Ryan Girdusky had then told Muslim journalist, Mehdi Hasan: “Well, I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
The comments, which received tens of millions of views online, had apparently referenced the Isreali attacks targeting the Hezbollah militant group’s radios and pagers in Lebanon. Note that Hasan had earlier said he was pro-Palestinian.
In a separate report, rights advocates have raised an alarm of rising threats and hateful rhetoric against American Muslim, Arabs and Jews and since the beginning of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon following an October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
A CNN anchor, Abby Philip had apologized to Hasan after the racist remark, saying, “There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air.”
Additionally, CNN had in a separate statement said that “Ryan Girdusky will not be welcomed back at our network.”
As for Girdusky, he had apologized for his comments on air but he also defended himself on social media, saying it was a joke.
He was quoted to have said;
“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.”
