A cable news discussion on “CNN Newsnight With Abby Phillip” Monday night took a shocking turn when conservative panelist Ryan Girdusky attacked journalist Mehdi Hasan, leading to his ban from the network.

During a discussion about Donald Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Girdusky told Hasan “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” referring to recent Israeli attacks against members of the terrorist group Hezbollah in which explosives were detonated on the pager. The comment came after Hasan said he was a “supporter of the Palestinians”.

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Hasan, a Muslim journalist and founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo News, was shocked by the statement, asking: “Did you just say I should die?”

CNN quickly released a statement, posted on social media by Phillip, banning Girdusky from the network.

“There is no place for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our show,” the statement said. “We aim to foster thoughtful conversation and debate, including between people who deeply disagree with each other, to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding. But we will not allow guests to be demeaned or the line of civility to be crossed. Ryan Girdusky will not be welcomed back to our network.”

After the segment, Phillip announced that he had fired Girdusky during commercial break, saying, “There’s a line that was crossed there and it’s not acceptable to me. It is not acceptable to us on this network. We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other to talk to each other. But when you cross the line of total lack of civility, that’s not going to happen here in this show. It’s a hot time. We are in the midst of a political season. We’re eight days away from the presidential election, but we can have conversations about what’s going on in this country without resorting to the lowest kind of speech.”

Girdusky attacked the network after CNN’s decision, writing on X that “You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and took money from the Qatari funded media. Apparently you can’t get on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America can see what CNN stands for.”

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