A conservative commentator has been banned for life from CNN after making an entirely grotesque and bigoted comment during a discussion about comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s entirely grotesque and bigoted comments at the Trump Nazi rally this past weekend.
Ryan Girdusky, a “political consultant” whom journalist Amanda Moore recently outed as having previously written for world famous neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, was defending Hinchliffe’s “act” when he suggested that British-American Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan just might be outfitted with an exploding pager.
Via CNN:
On Monday’s prime time show, after Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan stated that he supports Palestinians, conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky responded, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.” The comment referenced the thousands of pager explosions in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah militants. CNN has learned the attacks were carried out by Israel.
It’s a pretty disturbing thing to casually make reference to, given that at least 3,000 innocent people were severely injured by those explosions, and at least 37 people — including at least two children — were killed. It’s not cute.
Hasan then asked Phillip, “Did your guest just say I should be killed on live TV?” Girdusky responded by falsely equating Hasan’s Palestinian support with the terrorist group Hamas.
“That is completely out of pocket. You know that,” Phillip told Girdusky. Phillip apologized to viewers for his statements. Girdusky said he apologized because he thought Hasan said he supported Hamas, a claim Phillip and Hasan dismissed.
Just to be clear, Girdusky did not think Hasan said he supported Hamas. That’s the kind of statement that, I think we all know, would really stand out. Not much of a casual, “pass the salt” kind of statement. You know, kind of like when someone says, to a Muslim person, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
Mehdi Hasan, of course, does not “support Hamas,” nor do I, nor does anyone I know or have even heard of who opposes the war on Gaza — any more than those of us who opposed the Iraq War loved terrorism and hated the troops or those who opposed the Vietnam War spat on soldiers returning home. It’s is an age-old trope used by people who just really need to believe that the anti-war protesters are worse than the war, for reasons personal or political.
I do feel like it's worth noting that the comment was actually highly anti-semitic — possibly more anti-semitic than anti-Muslim, even — because who is it that was meant to have turned this nonexistent pager into an explosive device to begin with, here in the United States of America? I certainly don’t know of any Jewish people here who are going around exploding random Muslims and anyone around them, do you?
I’d say that it’s possible that Girdusky was too daft to know where it looks like he was going with this, but he did previously write for Richard Spencer, so I imagine he has at least a passing familiarity with the subject matter.
Girdusky has since been publicly whining about his dismissal over a “joke.”
“You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media,” he wrote on social media. “Apparently you can't go on CNN if you make a joke. I'm glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.”
There is, understand, a difference between “saying something incredibly shitty” and “telling a joke” — namely that, with the latter, it’s actually funny. If it’s not funny, it’s not a joke, it’s something else, and, in this case, it was just ignorance.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
Member of party of personal responsibility horrified that they are being held personally responsible.
Weak-armed little pissants are ONLY ever able to punch down. It's like that stupid Elon ad calling KH the "c word" with the reveal they meant communist. Yeah, fooling no one. Show me on the dolly where she supports the government seizing means of production. Of course they can't, they just really really wanted to call her a c*nt and needed "plausible" deniability. All their "humor" is just mean-spirited racism and misogyny and xenophobia that they claim is a "joke" we just aren't getting (that "plausible deniability" thing in its most transparent form). Nah, choads, we see you.