Andrew Wyrich
Tech
Posted on Aug 10, 2017 Updated on May 22, 2021, 8:58 pm CDT
CNN will no longer have pundit Jeffrey Lord, a vehement supporter of President Donald Trump, on air after he tweeted “Sieg Heil” at a liberal activist.
Lord made the comment, the Nazi salute for “Hail my leader” used during Adolf Hitler’s rise to prominence, during a Twitter spat with Angelo Carusone, the head of Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group.
The comment came after Lord published a column for the American Spectator, in which he criticized Media Matters. When Carusone tweeted at Lord criticizing the column, he responded with the Nazi salute.
“Nazi salutes are indefensible,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”
Lord has been a prominent supporter of Trump on CNN for months. He was hired in 2016 during the campaign to be a pro-Trump voice on the network.
Lord and Media Matters have been in a developing feud for weeks, ultimately culminating in the Nazi salute from Lord. In his American Spectator article, Lord called the organization “Media Matters Fascists” and “anti free speech bigots.”
In a follow up to the tweet spat, Lord said he was “mocking” Nazis and fascists.
You can read CNN’s account of the network’s separation with Lord
here.
*First Published: Aug 10, 2017, 4:56 pm CDT
Andrew Wyrich is the newsletter editor at the Daily Dot. He previously served as the deputy tech editor. Andrew has written for USA Today, NorthJersey.com, and other newspapers and websites. His work has been recognized by the Society of the Silurians, Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE), and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).