"Apparently you can't go on CNN if you make a joke" — Ryan Girdusky claps back at network after being banned over Mehdi Hasan comment
Writer and political consultant Ryan Girdusky was kicked off CNN's NewsNight with Abby Philip on October 28, 2024, following his racist toward political commentator Mehdi Hasan. On October 29, 2024, CNN posted a press release stating:
“There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN […] Ryan Girdusky will not be welcomed back at our network.”
Responding to CNN's press release, Ryan tweeted on October 29, 2024:
"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. I'm glad America gets to see what CNN stands for."
On October 28, 2024, Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project political action committee, made a derogatory comment toward Mehdi Hasan on Abby Phillip's show. Addressing Hasan, Ryan said:
"I hope your beeper doesn't go off"
Ryan Girdusky's comment came after Mehdi Hasan said he supported the Palestinians. Moreover, Ryan's comment referred to the recent Israeli attacks which took place against members of the terrorist group Hezbollah wherein explosives were detonated in pagers.
"There is a line that was crossed there": Abby Phillip comments on Ryan Girdusky's comment on Mehdi Hasan
After Ryan Girdusky made the "beeper" comment during CNN's NewsNight with Abby Philip, Mehdi Hasan questioned Ryan if he just said Hasan should die or that he should be killed. Adding to Hassan's reaction, the host of the show Abby Phillip told Ryan that his comment was "completely out of pocket" to which Ryan responded with an apology. However, after a commercial break, neither Ryan nor Mehdi Hasan were present at the roundtable discussion.
In addition to banning Ryan Girdusky from their network, CNN's press release mentioned that their goal is to foster thoughtful conversations and debates between "people who profoundly disagree with each other" to explore important issues as well as promote mutual understanding. The Cable News Network also added that they won't allow guests to be demanded or "for the line of civility to be crossed."
Moreover, the host of the CNN show on which the roundtable discussion took place, took to X on October 29, 2024, sharing that she had dismissed Ryan during the commercial break. In her video addressing the incident, Abby Phillip mentioned:
“There is a line that was crossed there, and it‘s not acceptable to me. It‘s not acceptable to us at this network. We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other, to talk to each other. But when you cross the line of a complete lack of civility, that is not going to happen here on this show."
Calling it "a heated time", Abby acknowledged that the country is in the middle of a political season and eight days away from the presidential election. She then mentioned that it is possible to have conversations about what's happening in the country "without resorting to the lowest of the lowest kind of discourse.”
Abby Phillip mentioned in her video that CNN hadn't asked Mehdi Hasan to leave the debate and that Hasan was welcome to return to the network in future.
While NBC News reached out to both Mehdi Hasan and Ryan Girdusky to comment on the incident, neither of the two have spoken on the same to any media publication except for Ryan's tweet addressing his CNN ban.