MAGA panelist Ryan Girdusky was banned from CNN after wild “bleeper” comment about Mehdi Hasan

A CNN guest was excluded from a roundtable discussion Monday night and later banned from the network's broadcast for claiming that a Muslim panelist was a member of the terrorist group Hezbollah after simply saying he supported Palestinians.

Ryan Girdusky said to Mehdi Hasan, founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo News, “I hope your beeper doesn't go off” during a discussion about the war between Israel and Hamas – a reference to Israel's shocking attack last month. The country's armed forces detonated thousands of explosives that they had placed in Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon.

This comment was preceded by Hasan, who is Muslim, saying he was a “supporter of the Palestinians” and was therefore used to being called an anti-Semite.

The network deemed the exchange serious enough to quickly denounce Girdusky and release a statement saying he would not be allowed back on the air in any capacity.

“There is no room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our show,” CNN told the Daily Beast in a statement. “Our aim is to promote thoughtful conversations and debates, even between people who have deeply different opinions, to discuss important issues and promote mutual understanding. But we will not allow guests to be humiliated or to cross the line of politeness. Ryan Girdusky will no longer be welcome on our network.”

Girdusky's remark was similarly voiced on the air by Hasan, former Biden-Harris campaign staffer Ashley Allison and others News Night Host Abby Phillip.

“Did you just say I should die?” Hasan asked questioningly.

Girdusky, the former head of a pro-JD Vance SuperPAC and founder of the 1776 Project PAC, which supports conservative school board candidates, denied the allegation. After asking for clarification about who Hasan was supporting, Girdusky claimed he “misunderstood” him.

“Then I apologize,” he said repeatedly, saying he believed Hasan was expressing support for Hamas.

The notoriously combative cable news personality immediately rejected the idea.

“Yes,” said Hasan. “'I went on CNN and said I support Hamas.' What kind of idiots do you think we are? What a ridiculous statement.”

Phillip told him that what he said was “completely out of his own pocket.”

Girdusky, she later added, had “crossed the line.” And that was enough to get him removed from the panel during a subsequent commercial break.

Upon his return, Phillip apologized to Hasan and her viewers.

“A line was crossed that is not acceptable to me. This is unacceptable to us in this network,” she said. “We want discussion. We want people who have different opinions to talk to each other. But if you cross the line into a complete lack of civility, that’s not going to happen here on this show.”

“It’s a heated time,” Phillip continued. “We are in the middle of a political season. We are still eight days away from a presidential election, but we can have conversations about what is happening in this country without resorting to the lowest discourse.”

Hasan was clearly absent even after the discussion resumed. Phillip said in a video later posted on