CNN bans conservative commentator after verbal attack on Mehdi Hasan

US network says it has ‘zero room for racism’ after Girdusky tells Hasan: ‘I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.’

CNN has banned a conservative commentator after he verbally attacked British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan by referring to a series of exploding handheld devices in Lebanon that targeted Hezbollah.

“I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” Ryan James Girdusky said during a heated debate with Hasan, a prominent broadcaster and outspoken critic of Israel’s war on Gaza, on the show CNN Newsnight with host Abby Phillip on Monday.

In a statement, the network said: “There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air.”

Nearly 40 people were killed and thousands wounded in two days of unprecedented attacks in September when pagers, walkie-talkies and other handheld communication devices exploded across Lebanon, which were blamed on Israel.

Guests on CNN Newsnight were debating the upcoming United States presidential election and the controversial Madison Square Garden rally of Republican candidate Donald Trump, including remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico.