CNN announced Thursday that it has severed ties with conservative contributor Jeffrey Lord after he said “Sieg Heil” to the head of Media Matters for America during a back-and-forth on Twitter, in which Lord accused Media Matters of being a fascist group.
The incident occurred after Lord posted an article about Angelo Carusone, the head of the liberal activist group.
That article described Media Matters as “anti-free speech bigots who, in typical fascist style, make it their mission to shut down speech they don’t like.” He was referring to alleged attempts by Media Matters to silence Fox News host Sean Hannity. Lord and Carusone had also argued about donations by George Soros to the activist group.
When Lord posted his article on Twitter, he tweeted it at Carusone, who responded by pointing out that it had a typo in the headline.
Lord responded: “Sieg Heil,” apparently continuing his theme of calling Media Matters a fascist organization.
However, the tweet quickly caused a mini-firestorm on Twitter and CNN decided to ax the pro-Trump contributor.
“Nazi salutes are indefensible,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”
Lord claimed he was taken out of context and repeatedly told people on Twitter that he was not identifying as a fascist, but accusing Media Matters of being a fascist group.
In an interview with CNN media reporter Brian Stelter, Lord said, “I’m mocking people who are posing a serious threat to the American free press. That’s what I’m mocking.”
Media Matters, meanwhile, did not rush to correct those who misinterpreted Lord’s tweet. When Fox News told NPR’s David Folkenflik that they would not be hiring Lord, the group’s account simply tweeted: “LOL”
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY