CNN Finally Kicks Off a Hateful Guest, But Why Does It Continue to Platform Bigots and Liars?

CNN removed Ryan Girdusky for accusing Mehdi Hasan of being a terrorist and says it has no for racism or bigotry. If true, why do they continue platforming and paying racists?

If you invite a panelist on your cable news show who is defending racist jokes and previously wrote for Richard Spencer, an actual Nazi, then you shouldn’t be shocked when he uses your privileged platform to spout offensive racist hate against your guests.

Earlier tonight, CNN discovered that important lesson, which most of us seem to figure out simply through life experience and common sense.

Ryan Girdusky was kicked off of Abby Phillips’ nightly WWE CNN panel for telling Mehdi Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” after the Muslim American journalist said he supports Palestinians. That’s all it took for Girdusky - a former staffer for J.D. Vance, a former writer for Richard Spencer, and founder of the 1776 “Take Back Our Schools” Project PAC - to accuse Hasan of being a Hezbollah terrorist. Last month, Israel detonated thousands of explosives in pagers used by Hezbollah agents in Lebanon. Girdusky also asked Hasan if he supported Hamas.

A momentarily shocked Hasan asked, “Did you just say I should die?” True to MAGA form, Girdusky’s tough-guy facade vanished real quick after Abby Phillips and a fellow panelist laid into him for his absurdly racist comment. He claimed to have “misheard” Hasan and apologized, but Hasan called him out on his bullshit and America wasn’t convinced. The clip has now gone viral forcing CNN and Phillips to issue a rare apology and remove Girdusky from its network. “There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air,” CNN said in their statement.

Well, that’s odd, considering Scott Jennings still has a lucrative contract and spews hateful rhetoric on a near-nightly basis. After news reports came out that General John Kelly said Trump admires Hitler, Jennings brushed it off and said America has “thousands of Hitlers on campus,” referring to pro-Palestinian anti-war protestors. That includes many Jewish Americans, by the way. However, the comment was perfectly kosher for CNN. Jennings also accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of being a public relations agent of Hamas, which was just as offensive as Girdusky’s comment but not a single panelist batted an eye. Both of these statements, by the way, were made on Abby Phillips’ show.

So, what’s changed? I can only assume two reasons. Number one, Hasan called out Girdusky and didn’t back off. This prompted Phillips and a panelist to jump in as well. Secondly, their entire panel was discussing the unabashed racism and bigotry that was on display during Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. Trump officials made the disastrous choice to screen and approve an offensive, unfunny, and toxic set by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that ridiculed Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Palestinians. It seems that MAGA can’t help but show their entire racist ass a week ahead of the 2024. It’s a bold strategy to win over undecided voters. CNN invited Girdusky to defend Trump’s rally and the “jokes.”

Again, what did they expect?

When you platform bigots you mainstream and normalize their hate. This is a conscious choice that CNN and other establishment outlets have made over the past nine years to indulge and placate Trump and his MAGA base that will never love “liberal” media and instead refers to them as “the enemy of the people” and “fake news.” Phillips’ CNN show has devolved into a late-night version of Jerry Spinger’s infamous throw-downs during the nadir of daytime talk show wars.

There’s a cost to platforming this hate. Just look at tonight’s debacle. I still have unanswered questions. Why was Girdusky invited in the first place? What is gained by ruining a quality, informative debate panel with MAGA trolls who use their time to spread disinformation and hate? If CNN is against racism, then why do they still employ Scott Jennings?

It’s rare to see Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bigotry punished on cable news, so I welcome CNN’s swift response and crackdown. However, it’s still too little too late. To win back credibility and restore their reputation, both CNN and corporate news outlets have to take a stand against platforming MAGA’s cruelty. If they don’t, they must acknowledge they remain complicit partners in hate.