Ryan Girdusky clashed with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan on Monday night.

CNN has banned a conservative commentator from appearing on the network again after he told a Muslim journalist “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” an apparent reference to the spate of exploding pagers in Lebanon that killed members of the Hezbollah militant group last month.

Ryan Girdusky made the comment during a heated debate with Mehdi Hasan, a prominent British-American broadcaster and an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, on “CNN Newsnight” with host Abby Phillip.

The guests were discussing the racist jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, which overshadowed former President Donald Trump’s rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday and continue to make headlines two days later.

As the debate turned fractious, Girdusky and Hasan sparred over whether the latter had been labeled an anti-Semite. “I’m a supporter of the Palestinians, I’m used to it,” Hasan said.

Girdusky replied: “Well I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”

  • Maple Engineer@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Girdusky appeared indignant on social media in the hours afterwards and said in a tweet “apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke.”

    “It was a prank, bro!”

    The last refuge of the Trumpist shitheel.

      • wjrii@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        Yup, there’s also this idea that certain people like to posit that Nazis never laugh or attempt to make jokes. It’s not that you aren’t joking, it’s what your joke says about you.

        I can understand that in a particular moment you’re not calling for the literal death of your political opponents, yet still believe you’d be pretty okay with the literal death of your political opponents, and your “joke” may well help me be more confident in my conclusion.

        • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          Yeah. This was definitely a joke. It’s also definitely not a joke whose teller I want anywhere near a political panel or as the guest on a news show. I wouldn’t think of this joke, it makes my skin crawl. The fact that he not only thought of it, but found it worthy of saying, speaks volumes as to how he thinks about people.

        • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          That’s because it’s true. Fascists fundamentally destroy humor. They aren’t joking when they say this stuff. They just say they are.

          It’s so much more straightforward than people act like.

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      Yup. It came off as ignorant hate, not a joke.

      “I’m a supporter of the Palestinians, so I’m used to it.”

      “Well, then I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”

      “Did you just say I should die?”

      “Are you a Hamas?”

      https://youtu.be/QwmFv4jnH-4

  • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Israelis are now using the same arguments as they do in Israel on American TV.

    Not even Western media can protect them from themselves anymore.

    The absolute state of Hasbara.

    • godlessworm@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      western media will always only protect israel. this dude isn’t going to face any consequences. “banned from CNN”, yeah we’ll see about that. bro probably just had to get back to englin airforce base to post more zionist propaganda on reddit, he wasn’t ever asked to leave and certainly not told to never come back. mark my words, he will be back on CNN within the next two months.

  • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Good that they banned him. Wishing someone that has a conversation with you but does not agree with you this kind of harm means you need to be excluded from the discourse.

    • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      I agree that it was a blatantly out of line and wrong thing to say, but it’s not wishing harm. At least the phrasing isn’t.

      Look at it this way. Say someone has tires on their car which are practically falling apart. The conversation goes:

      Friend: “you really need to get new tires, they’re complete thread-bare”

      Owner: “nah, they’re fine”

      Friend: “you’re being negligent, I hope you don’t get into an accident”

      The way the CNN conversation reads to me is that the guy was implying “if we listen to you, then things might progress to the point where you might get attacked, and I hope your pager doesn’t go off”.

      Maybe that’s not what he meant, but generally that’s how such a statement is used.

      • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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        22 days ago

        No, he said exactly what he meant.

        The logic Zionists employ: Palestinian = terrorist. Because Hasan said “I’m pro Palestinian” the other dude called him a terrorist and said harm should come to him using the phrasing “I hope your pager does not explode”. Because of the Hamas pagers recently being blown up by Mossad and Mehdi is pro Palestinian so a terrorist and would have a pager of a terrorist organisation.

        CNN and everyone at the table rightfully reacted the way they did.

        • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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          22 days ago

          You completely glossed over what I said. If he “said what he meant”, then he said nothing to wish harm.

          Edit:

          CNN and everyone at the table rightfully reacted the way they did.

          No one is saying otherwise.

          • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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            22 days ago

            Well then, if I would tell you I" hope you don’t get a cut on your tongue from all the boots you lick" how would you interpret that? As its the same type of gist.

            • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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              22 days ago

              It’s incredibly spiteful and passive aggressive, but that’s still not wishing harm. For it to be wishing harm it would have to be “I hope you DO get a cut on your tongue from all the boots you lick”.

              • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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                22 days ago

                You’re wrong on this one buddy. Using irony as a shield from consequences is a classic strategy for assholes and fascists alike. Just like the “it’s just a joke, bro”.

                Have a nice evening.

                • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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                  22 days ago

                  Using irony as a shield from consequences is a classic strategy for assholes and fascists alike.

                  Well, I think you’re entirely right about that.

                  Just like the “it’s just a joke, bro”.

                  That whole thing has always been lame and annoying.

                  Have a nice evening.

                  You too.

              • ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world
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                22 days ago

                No. The message is hidden between the lines. He’s not saying he hopes they don’t get bombed; he’s saying you deserve it while hiding behind sarcasm.

                • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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                  22 days ago

                  he’s saying you deserve it while hiding behind sarcasm.

                  That’s still not wishing harm! This is basically “just desserts”. It implies the person gets what they deserve (good or bad). Depending on the context it can be benign or malicious, but it’s still not wishing harm.

                  It’s basically like saying “you are going to get hurt, it’s your fault, it’s what was coming to you, and I have no sympathy”. We can debate about which interpretation makes him look worse, but I’m entirely firm on my “not wishing harm” stance. I can agree I’m maybe splitting hairs or not considering intent, but the meaning of the words spoken is not literally about wishing harm.

            • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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              22 days ago

              You’re not making any argument against what I said. Your comment “totally cool things to say” implies I’m arguing that the guy on CNN said nothing wrong. Which isn’t true.

  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    they got so comfortable… they at least used to hide under their hoods before.

  • LordCrom@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    Wouldn’t that be a slight death threat? Or no, because he said he hoped it didn’t happen, ignoring the tone?

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      “it would be a shame if something happened to your family”

      it’s a pretty standard form of threat in my opinion.

    • Knightfox@lemmy.one
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      22 days ago

      It’s kinda hard to call that a threat. It’s more accurate to say it’s an accusation that the guy is a terrorist.

  • VantaBrandon@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    Not just any Muslim journalist, Mehdi is a die-hard anti-Israel propagandist, so much so that MSNBC dropped him for his abhorrent comments after the Hamas terrorist attack