Mehdi Hasan broke his silence Wednesday about what happened 48 hours prior on CNN NewsNight, when right-wing commentator Ryan Girdusky implied that he was a terrorist simply because he said he supported the Palestinian people.
The founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo News posted a video rejecting Girdusky’s after-the-fact claim that he was joking when he said he hoped that Hasan’s beeper didn’t go off—a clear reference to the detonation of thousands of pagers used by terrorist militia group Hezbollah last month in Lebanon.
What Girdusky said ”wasn’t a joke," and he “almost certainly came pre-prepared with“ it, Hasan claimed, adding that Girdusky, the former head of a JD Vance SuperPAC, thought he could ”get away with it on national television."
ADVERTISEMENT
“That’s how bold these MAGA Republicans have become with their racism. That’s the permission structure Trump and Vance have created with the help of some in our media who have just happily platformed it,” Hasan said.
The British-American broadcaster added that he appreciated how CNN banned Girdusky from making any future appearances, anchor Abby Phillip’s apology, and the way fellow panelist Ashley Allison also confronted Girdusky on air.
“Never, in my 25 years as a journalist and 15 years of doing live TV, have I been so stunned by what was said to me that I had to walk off set in the middle of a live show,” Hasan said.
After warning that Girdusky and his type will only be more emboldened if Donald Trump wins the election next week, Hasan acknowledged that being subjected to such comments is “emotionally taxing.” He then quoted late poet Toni Morrison, who wrote, “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.”
“To be clear,” Hasan concluded, “with less than a week out from the most consequential election of our lifetimes, with genocide on the ballot, and, yes, fascism plus genocide on the ballot, I’m in no mood to explain myself to the racists and bullies. But I will continue to speak out. I will continue to do the work, and so should you.”
