Mehdi Hasan breaks his silence for the first time after Ryan Girdusky’s outrageous beeper threat

Mehdi Hasan has broken his silence for the first time following Ryan Girdusky’s scandalous pager threat on a CNN program.

Conservative panelist Girdusky, founder of the PAC 1776 Project, was booted from Abby Phillip’s show Monday night after telling the British-Muslim commentator, “I hope your pager doesn’t go off.”

This was a reference to a wave of booby-trapped pager explosions across Lebanon last month, in which Israel attacked Hezbollah fighters and which killed at least 32 people and injured thousands.

After the comment broadcast live, Hasan reacted in a six-minute video. statement on their news site Zeteo.

After telling viewers how he has interviewed and debated “controversial, opinionated and offensive people,” I was never “more stunned by what they said to me” on Monday night.

‘I have interviewed, debated and argued with controversial, opinionated and offensive people from around the world, sitting presidents and prime ministers, former CIA and Mossad directors, Trump officials, Biden officials, a Netanyahu spokesperson, a spokesperson for Hamas, an IRA. leader, Vivek Ramaswamy.

“But never, ever in my 25 years as a journalist and 15 years doing live television have I been so stunned by what I was told that I had to walk off the set in the middle of a live show, like I did on Monday.” night on CNN in New York when this happened,” he said.

He then shared a clip from the CNN show of the moment he and Girdusky clashed after the controversial speaker attacked Hasan, who he claimed had “been called an anti-Semitic more than anyone at this table” for his comment about the current war between Israel and Israel. Hamas war.

But when Hasan mentioned that he supported Palestinian rights, and not Hamas, Gidursky made the pager comment.

The panel erupted and Hasan accused Girdusky of asking to be killed.

Looking at Girdusky, Hasan asked, ‘Did you say I should die? You just said they should kill me.

“No, no, I didn’t say that,” Girdusky responded.

He then turned to Phillip and asked, ‘Did your guest just say they should kill me on live TV?’

The CNN clip ended with Hasan continuing his statement, adding: “Yes, it was far-right pundit Ryan Gerduski who reacted to me saying that I support the Palestinians by basically inciting violence against me, suggesting that they might blow me up in the the way members of Hezbollah do.” and Lebanese civilians were blown up by Israel through their pagers in what former CIA chief Leon Panetta called a clear terrorist attack.

—That’s what Gerduski casually suggested might happen to me. Ryan Gerduski, associate at JD Vance. Ryan Gerduski, Trump supporter. Because in his head, when he hears Palestine, he hears Hamas.

‘When he sees a Muslim in front of him, he sees Hamas.

“Now he and his right-wing friends are saying, ‘I called him, I called all the Republicans Nazis, which of course I didn’t do.’

Although apparently white supremacist Richard Spencer claims that Godusky used to write for him.

‘What I did say was that if you, if the people, if you, if you don’t want to be called a Nazi, don’t say Nazi things, as was said at the Trump rally in New York on Sunday.

‘Jews are stingy. Black people like watermelons. Muslims are terrorists. And this guy’s response was to imply that I am a terrorist who could be killed by Israel.

‘A line that was not a joke and almost certainly came prepared beforehand, thinking he could get away with it on live national television.

‘That’s how bold these MAGA Republicans have become with their racism.

‘That is the permission structure that Trump and Vance have created with the help of some in our media who have happily used it as a platform.

“But as shocked and stunned as I was, there was no way I was going to let him say that to me without being challenged, and I’m glad to see that CNN has since banned it from its airwaves, and I appreciate that host Abby Phillip apologized to me. the viewers and for me after I left the set.”

Hasan continued to credit fellow panelist Ashley Allison, a former Biden-Harris 2020 campaign staffer who criticized Girdusky following his comment.

‘Where would we be as a country without black women standing up to racism and intolerance and showing us what solidarity looks like?’ If Harris wins next week, it will be in part because her Black colleagues hold that line,” Hasan continued in his statement.

“And if she loses, and to be clear, because of her refusal to give even an inch in Gaza, Harris morally deserves to lose.

‘We will have a Trump presidency, a white supremacist presidency, an anti-Black, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic presidency, in which people like the bigot I had to deal with on CNN will feel emboldened like never before.

‘They will not limit themselves to speaking on television panels against public figures like me. They will be at the door of your child’s school. They will be in your supermarket. They’ll be in your subway car, proudly and brazenly saying these things to you too. They will also be in charge of US foreign policy, goading Israel into more pager attacks, even more acts of terrorism, goading Trump and Vance to be more racist and more violent, both at home and abroad.

‘A white liberal friend of mine, while texting me very supportively yesterday, asked me, in good faith, is it emotionally draining to face this bigotry, or is it normal right now? To which my answer is, unfortunately, Muslims do not have thicker skin than others.

‘We shouldn’t have to have thicker skin than others either. We are human beings, so of course it is emotionally draining. That’s the point. That’s why they do it.

‘Racism is not only about dehumanizing you, but also about demoralizing and depressing you. It’s about defeating you and keeping you on the defensive, forcing you to fight an uphill battle and apparently even threatening you with a terrorist attack.

‘As the one and only Toni Morrison said so wisely, so eloquently and so rightly, the function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It prevents you from doing your job. It keeps you explaining your reason for being over and over again.

“Well, to be clear, less than a week away from the most important election of our lives, with genocide on the ballot, yes, but also fascism plus genocide on the ballot, I’m in no mood to explain myself to the racists. and thugs.

‘But I will continue talking. I will continue doing the work. And you should too.

Writing on Twitter/X on Tuesday morning, Girdusky defended his comments, saying: ‘You can stay on CNN if you falsely call all Republicans Nazis and have taken money from Qatar-funded media.

‘Apparently you can’t appear on CNN if you make a joke. “I’m glad America can see what CNN stands for.”

When reached for comment, a CNN spokesperson said Girdusky was no longer welcome at the network.

‘There is no place for racism or intolerance on CNN or on our air. “Our goal is to foster thoughtful conversations and debates, even among people who deeply disagree with each other, to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding,” Shimrit Sheetrit told DailyMail.com in a statement.

But we will not allow guests to be degraded or the line of civility to be crossed. Ryan Girdusky will not be welcome back on our network.

Girdusky responded angrily about his firing on social media after the show ended.

‘You can stay on CNN if you falsely call all Republicans Nazis and have received money from Qatar-funded media. Apparently you can’t appear on CNN if you make a joke. “I’m glad America can see what CNN stands for,” he wrote.