On Thursday, hours after Jeffrey Lord sparked controversy by tweeting the words “Sieg Heil!” at a high-profile liberal activist, CNN severed ties with the conservative commentator.
In a statement, a CNN spokesperson said, “Nazi salutes are indefensible,” adding that “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”
Despite the backlash Lord is now facing, he seems to be sticking to his claim that the tweet was taken out of context. He stated that he was simply mocking fascists, not acting like one.
“I love CNN, but I feel they are caving to bullies here,” he said in a telephone interview not long after the network announced their decision.
Lord has not yet admitted that he was wrong for putting such a statement out on the internet, but he did say that he greatly respected CNN management despite disagreeing with its decision to remove him from the network. In the telephone interview, Lord noted that his contract was scheduled to expire at the end of 2017.
There are some who say Lord should have considered the repercussions before he published the tweet, as this is not the first time CNN has severed ties with a well-known network personality due to an offensive tweet.
Towards the start of 2017, CNN cancelled Reza Aslan’s documentary series titled “Believer” after he posted vulgar anti-Trump tweets.
For those who don’t know, Lord – former Reagan administration staffer – had been one of CNN’s best-known commentators. In fact, he was the first explicitly pro-Donald Trump commentator to join the network, back in August of 2015, only two months after Trump entered the GOP primary race. During this time, Lord acted as a counterweight to CNN’s other conservative commentators, all of whom were dismissive of Trump’s candidacy.
Even though other pro-Trump voices joined the network later on, Lord, columnist for The American Spectator, always seemed to stand out from the group. Why? Primarily because of his interpretations of history and his forceful yet passionate exchanges with commentators like Van Jones on “Anderson Cooper 360”.
Lord’s latest target was activist Angelo Carusone and the liberal group of which Carusone is president, Media Matters for America.
Keep in mind this is not the first time the two men have had a disagreement. Media Matters has repeatedly criticized both Lord and CNN for employing him.
But here’s where it really got interesting. Earlier this week, the two men got into yet another argument on Twitter.
Here’s a Little Recap of the Twitter Conversation:
– Carusone told Lord that one of his columns was “full of lies” and said “Soros gave us one donation one time…in 2010.”
– In response, Lord wrote a follow-up column for The American Spectator on Thursday morning, calling Carusone’s group “Media Matters Fascists.” Additionally, he cast them as “anti-free speech bigots who, in typical fascist style, make it their mission to shut down speech they don’t like.”
– It doesn’t end there, however. Lord went on to say that Carusone was playing a “fascist game” by targeting Hannity’s sponsors.
-“This is America, Angelo. Not Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany or Communist Russia,” he wrote.
-Once the column was published, Lord tweeted it at Carusone, who responded, “Your headline has a mistake in it.” He went on to ask, “Why do you expect anyone to take you seriously when you don’t take yourself seriously.”
-And it was then Lord tweeted the now famous remark, “Sieg Heil!”
Don’t Expect Lord to Wave a White Flag, The Battle Will Go On
To no surprise, the tweet ignited a Twitter storm, with both Lord and CNN being scrutinized. And Carusone tweeted Thursday afternoon, “CNN does not seem to hold Jeffrey Lord to any kind of standard.”
Despite the backlash from Lord’s Nazi reference, he’s not backtracking. “Why would I delete something that mocks the Fascists at Media Matter Fascists?” he asked.
Later, in a telephone interview with CNN, Lord said, “I’m mocking people who are posing a serious threat to the American free press. That’s what I’m mocking.”
Featured Image: twitter
