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

Mehdi Hasan has broken his silence for the first time following Ryan Girdusky’s outrageous bleeper threat on a CNN show.

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

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

Following the comment which was broadcasted live on air, Hasan has reacted in a six-minute-long video statement on his news site Zeteo.

After telling viewers about how he has interviewed and debated with ‘controversial, opinionated, offensive people’, he has never ‘been so stunned by what was said to me’ on Monday night.

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

‘But never, 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, as 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 hit out at Hasan, who he claimed had ‘been called an antisemite more than anyone at this table’ for his commentary on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

But when Hasan mentioned he was supportive of Palestinian rights, and not Hamas, Gidursky made the beeper remark.

The panel erupted, with Hasan accusing Girdusky of calling for him to be killed.

Looking at Girdusky, Hasan asked: ‘Did you say I should die? You just said I should be killed.’

‘No, no I did not say that,’ Girdusky replied.

He then turned to Phillip, asking: ‘Did your guest just say I should be killed on live TV?’

The CNN clip ended as Hasan continued with his statement, adding: ‘Yes, that was far-right pundit Ryan Gerduski reacting to me saying I support Palestinians by basically inciting violence against me, suggesting I might be blown up in the way that Hezbollah members and Lebanese civilians were blown up via their beepers by Israel in what the former CIA chief Leon Panetta called a clear terrorist attack.

‘That’s what Gerduski casually suggested might happen to me. J.D. Vance associate Ryan Gerduski. Trump supporter Ryan Gerduski. Because in his head, when he hears Palestinian, 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 Republicans Nazis, which, of course, I didn’t. 

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

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

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

‘A line that wasn’t a joke and that he almost certainly came pre-prepared with, thinking he could get away with it on live national television. 

‘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’ve just happily platformed it. 

‘But as shocked and stunned as I was, there was no way I was going to let him say that to me unchallenged and I’m glad to see CNN has since banned him from their airwaves, and I appreciate host Abby Phillip apologizing to the viewers and to me after I walked off set’.

Hasan went on to give credit to his fellow panelist Ashley Allison, a former Biden-Harris 2020 campaign staffer who slammed Girdusky following his comment.

‘Where would we be as a country without black women holding the line against racism and bigotry and showing us what solidarity looks like? If Harris wins next week, it’ll be partly because of her fellow black women holding that line,’ Hasan continued in his statement.

‘And if she loses, and to be clear, because of her refusal to budge even an inch on Gaza, Harris morally deserves to lose. 

‘We will get 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 be emboldened like never before.  

‘They won’t just be running their mouths on TV panels against public figures like me. They’ll be at your kid’s school gate. They’ll be at your grocery store. They’ll be in your subway car, proudly and shamelessly saying this stuff to you, too. They’ll also be in charge of U.S. foreign policy, egging on Israel to do more beeper attacks, even more acts of terror, egging on Trump and Vance to be more racist, more violent, both at home and abroad.

‘A white liberal friend of mine, while sending me a very supportive text yesterday, asked me, in good faith, is it emotionally taxing to face this bigotry, or is it par for the course at this point? To which my answer is, sadly, we Muslims don’t have thicker skins than everyone else.

‘Nor should we have to have thicker skins than everyone else. We’re human beings, so of course it’s emotionally taxing. That’s the whole point. That’s why they do it. 

‘Racism is about not just dehumanizing you, but demoralizing you and depressing you. It’s about beating you down 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 so wisely, so eloquently, so rightly said, 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.   

‘Well, to be clear, less than a week out from the most consequential election of our lifetimes, 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 bullies. 

‘But I will continue to speak out. I will continue to do the work. And so should you’.

Writing on Twitter/X on Tuesday morning, Girdusky defended his remarks, saying: ‘You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media.

‘Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.’

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

‘There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air. We aim to foster thoughtful conversations and debate including between people who profoundly disagree with each other in order to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding,’ Shimrit Sheetrit told DailyMail.com in a statement.

‘But we will not allow guests to be demeaned or for the line of civility to be crossed. Ryan Girdusky will not be welcomed back at our network.’

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

‘You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media. Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for,’ he wrote.