Conservative Pundit Permanently Banned from CNN Over Racist Attack on Guest Claims He Was Just Joking

The now-banned conservative commentator who told a fellow CNN guest that he hopes his "beeper doesn't go off," took to social media to defend his statement as "a joke."

During a heated exchange, Ryan James Girdusky told Muslim broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, a Guardian US columnist, that he hoped Hasan's "beeper doesn't go off" — a comment referencing Israel's recent targeting of Hezbollah fighters with exploding pagers. Hasan responded immediately, asking if Girdusky was implying he should be killed.

After a commercial break, anchor Abby Phillip issued an on-air apology to Hasan and CNN viewers, calling the comment "completely unacceptable" and confirming that Girdusky had been removed. CNN later released a statement saying, "There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air," and confirmed Girdusky would not be welcomed back.

Following the incident, Girdusky took to X (formerly Twitter), asserting that his comment was a joke and criticizing CNN for what he claimed was a double standard, saying, "Apparently you can't go on CNN if you make a joke."

The contentious exchange coincided with recent backlash to racially charged comments made by a comedian during a Donald Trump rally in New York over the weekend. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage," and made several offensive comments about Latinos, Jews, and Black people.

In a defense similar to Girdusky's, Hinchcliffe accused his critics of having "no sense of humor."