Ryan Girdusky clashed with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan on Monday night.

Ryan Girdusky clashed with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan on Monday night.

CNN has banned a conservative commentator from appearing on the network again after he told a Muslim journalist “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” an apparent reference to the spate of exploding pagers in Lebanon that killed members of the Hezbollah militant group last month.

Ryan Girdusky made the comment during a heated debate with Mehdi Hasan, a prominent British-American broadcaster and an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, on “CNN Newsnight” with host Abby Phillip.

The guests were discussing the racist jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, which overshadowed former President Donald Trump’s rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday and continue to make headlines two days later.

As the debate turned fractious, Girdusky and Hasan sparred over whether the latter had been labeled an anti-Semite. “I’m a supporter of the Palestinians, I’m used to it,” Hasan said.

Girdusky replied: “Well I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”

  • Maple Engineer@lemmy.world
    0·
    7 days ago

    Girdusky appeared indignant on social media in the hours afterwards and said in a tweet “apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke.”

    “It was a prank, bro!”

    The last refuge of the Trumpist shitheel.

    • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
      0·
      7 days ago

      This goes back a long way. There are posts on neo-nazi BBS systems from the 80s where they are talking about the strategy of making a racist comment, then playing it off as a joke if there’s pushback, and noting that a given audience may be receptive to more extreme and overt racist messaging in the future.

      • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        7 days ago

        Yup, there’s also this idea that certain people like to posit that Nazis never laugh or attempt to make jokes. It’s not that you aren’t joking, it’s what your joke says about you.

        I can understand that in a particular moment you’re not calling for the literal death of your political opponents, yet still believe you’d be pretty okay with the literal death of your political opponents, and your “joke” may well help me be more confident in my conclusion.

        • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          6 days ago

          That’s because it’s true. Fascists fundamentally destroy humor. They aren’t joking when they say this stuff. They just say they are.

          It’s so much more straightforward than people act like.

        • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
          0·
          7 days ago

          Yeah. This was definitely a joke. It’s also definitely not a joke whose teller I want anywhere near a political panel or as the guest on a news show. I wouldn’t think of this joke, it makes my skin crawl. The fact that he not only thought of it, but found it worthy of saying, speaks volumes as to how he thinks about people.