CNN ejects guest who told Mehdi Hasan: 'I hope your pager doesn't go off'

A panelist was kicked off CNN host Abby Phillip's show on Monday after telling another guest, “I hope your pager doesn't go off” while discussing the rhetoric that erupted at the former's New York rally President Donald Trump was distributed on Sunday.

The comment was made by conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project political action committee, to Mehdi Hasan, a progressive commentator who is of Indian descent and Muslim.

Trump's event at Madison Square Garden was met with intense backlash after several speakers made inflammatory or racist comments on stage. The controversy follows reports last week about Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly and other members of the Trump administration saying the former president repeatedly praised Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler.

Girdusky said during a heated panel on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip that “the media” called “everyone who attended” Trump’s rally “Hitler” and “a fascist” and spoke out in support of the former president.

Phillip interrupted Girdusky's comments and said, “That didn't happen.” Hasan then spoke out about Trump's rally, attacking comments from speakers like comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and others who he said used “far-right language.”

“My problem is, I understand, no one wants to be called a Nazi. This is very inflammatory,” Hasan said, adding: “If you don’t want to be called Nazis, stop hurling rhetoric.”

Girdusky shot back at Hasan: “You've been called an anti-Semite more than anyone else at this table,” to which Hasan responded, “From people like you… I support the Palestinians, I'm used to that.”

Girdusky denied that he ever called Hasan an anti-Semite, adding, “Yeah, well, I hope your pager doesn't go off.”

Hasan has been an enthusiastic critic of Israel's military response to the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Girdusky's comments appear to refer to a rigged pager attack Israel carried out in September against the militant group Hezbollah. The attack killed dozens of people and injured thousands more, including some civilians and children, according to the Associated Press.

Girdusky later apologized but was removed from the conversation after a commercial break. Phillip also told viewers that she wanted to “apologize to Mehdi Hasan” after the commercial break and that Girdusky's comment was “totally unacceptable.”

“A line has been crossed and that is unacceptable to me,” she said on air. “This is unacceptable for us in this network. We want discussions. We want people who disagree to talk to each other, but if you cross the line into a complete lack of civility, that's not going to happen here.”

Hasan also did not return to Phillips' panel after the commercial break. Phillip said in a video message to X, formerly Twitter, after the show that CNN had not asked Hasan to leave and that she hoped he would “join us again soon.” Hasan reposted Phillip's statement on his own X account.

CNN also released a statement after the incident saying that there was “no room for racism or bigotry” on their show and that Girdusky “will not be welcomed back to our network.”

Girdusky posted late Monday night on his “I'm glad America sees what CNN stands for.”

Newsweek sent a message to Girdusky's PAC, 1776 Project, seeking comment on Monday night's incident.

Phillip opened her discussion on Monday by showing a compilation of clips from Trump's rally in New York. The videos included vulgar remarks from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, some of whom said early in the night that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of trash.”

Trump's campaign tells Newsweek that the joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

Hinchcliffe also said during his speech on Sunday: “When it comes to Israel and Palestine, we all think the same thing. Get your things done already. The best of three: rock, paper, scissors. You know the Palestinians are going to rock every time.

Phillip also played a clip of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former personal lawyer, saying during the rally: “Palestinians are taught to kill us at two years old…and.” [Vice President Kamala Harris] would like to bring her to you.

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor of Virginia was also on Phillips' panel Monday and condemned Hinchcliffe's comments about Puerto Rico: “I think it's gone nowhere. I think it was the wrong place to say that.”

Asked by Phillip what he thought about “all the rest” of what was said at Trump's rally, Taylor said: “I think emotions are running very high.”

“We still have eight days until the election, right? “I don’t think either side is free of inflammatory rhetoric,” Taylor added, saying he thinks the rhetoric about Trump’s rally, which resembles a Nazi rally, is “much, much worse than what you’re saying right now.” have played.

Update 10/29/24, 12:26 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.