A right-wing writer with connections to the Proud Boys and Project2025 was somehow invited to be a panelist on CNN Monday night and proceeded to make a racist comment that got him first removed from the panel mid-broadcast and then permanently banned from the network.
Ryan Girdusky was engaged in a heated argument with former MSNBC commentator Mehdi Hasan, who is Muslim-American. Ironically, Girdusky's racist comment came during an exchange regarding the racist joke made by "comedian" Kill Tony at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally the night before.
The panelists were discussing people of different political leanings being labeled "Nazis" and "anti-Semites," Hasan, the founder of Zeteo News, said he was "used to" the latter label because of his "support of the Palestinians." Girdusky responded, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
The comment referenced the thousands of pager explosions in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah militants which were actually carried out by Israel. Hasan then asked host Abby 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 scolded 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 immediately disputed.
After a commercial break, the show returned without Girdusky. Abby Phillip addressed the audience and apologized.
Phillip also made a second video and shared a written statement from CNN.