RantCrush Top 5: August 11, 2017

Yesterday, CNN severed its ties with conservative commentator Jeffrey Lord after he tweeted “Sieg Heil” to a liberal activist. While Lord claims he was mocking Nazis, not sympathizing with them, it was too much for CNN. “Nazi salutes are indefensible. Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network,” CNN spokespeople said. “I love CNN, but I feel they are caving to bullies here,” replied Lord. He was the first Donald Trump supporter to join CNN as a commentator. The tweet in question was aimed at Angelo Carusone, president of liberal group Media Matters; Carusone and Lord have bickered for some time. Lord wrote a negative column about Carusone and Media Matters but misspelled his name in the headline. When Carusone pointed that mistake out, Lord responded by tweeting the Nazi phrase.

And here’s full thread. His hit piece on me spelled my name wrong, literally in the headline, I pointed it out and he screams “Sieg Heil!” pic.twitter.com/eHJdnzSYSp

— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) August 10, 2017

After that, a Twitter storm broke out and people criticized CNN for having Lord on the payroll. Reportedly, Steve Bannon called Lord after the news broke to offer his support. “The First Amendment is under assault. This is the first day of my no apology tour,” Lord said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.