A cable news discussion Monday night on “CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip” took a shocking turn when conservative panelist Ryan Girdusky attacked reporter Mehdi Hasan, leading to the former being banned from the network.

During a discussion at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Girdusky told Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” referring to recent Israeli attacks on members of the terrorist group Hezbollah over where explosives were detonated in pagers. The comment came after Hasan said he was a “supporter of the Palestinians.”

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Hasan, a Muslim journalist and founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo News, was shocked by this statement and asked: “Did you just say I should die?

CNN quickly released a statement: published on social networks by Phillip, banning Girdusky from the network.

“There is no place for racism or intolerance at CNN or on our airwaves,” the statement said. “Our goal is to foster thoughtful conversations and debate, including between people who deeply disagree with each other, to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding. But we will not allow guests to be humiliated or the line of civility to be crossed. Ryan Girdusky will not be welcome in our network.

After the segment, Phillip announced that she had fired Girdusky during the commercial break, saying, “There’s a line that’s been crossed there, and that’s not acceptable to me.” This is not acceptable to us on this network. We want a debate. We want people who disagree with each other to talk. But when you cross the line into a complete lack of civility, that’s not going to happen here in this series. It’s a hot time. We are in the middle of a political season. We’re eight days away from a presidential election, but we can have conversations about what’s going on in this country without resorting to the lowest rhetoric.”

Girdusky attacked the network after CNN’s decision, write on that “you can stay on CNN if you falsely call all Republicans Nazis and have received money from Qatar-funded media.” Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America can see what CNN stands for.

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