CNN has broken off ties with host Reza Aslan in the aftermath of a vulgar tweet in which Aslan insulted President Donald Trump with a profanity.
Aslan’s remarks came after Trump published a tweet criticizing the response of London Mayor Sadiq Khan to last week’s London Bridge terrorist attack. Aslan called the president “an embarrassment to humankind” and then compared him to a lump of organic fertilizer (a “piece of s***,” to be exact).
Aslan would later apologize. According to The Daily Caller, CNN said that it was “pleased” with Aslan’s apology, but pointed out that the network merely aired his show “Believer” — a survey of world religion — and that he wasn’t a CNN employee.
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However, the network announced Friday it was canceling Aslan’s show, according to The New York Times.
“CNN has decided to not move forward with production on the acquired series ‘Believer with Reza Aslan,’”a CNN spokeswoman said. “We wish Reza and his production team all the best.”
While it’s unknown whether the two incidents were related, the cancellation came after a number of Aslan’s other tweets toward the president and assorted conservatives received greater scrutiny. (WARNING: The links ahead contain a considerable amount of vulgarity. Reader discretion is advised).
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On the social medium, Aslan had previously called the president a “lying conniving scumbag narcissistic sociopath piece of s***,” Fox News host Sean Hannity a “piece of s***” (I sense a pattern), and Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist “an a******.”
In one particularly convivial tweet, Aslan told conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza to “(g)o f*** yourself, you adulterous piece of s*** felon.”
There was some irony in these posts, as Aslan had insisted in his apology that his vulgarity toward the president was “not like me.”
Aslan’s statement regarding the cancellation of “Believer” was also a master class in rationalizing several gigatons worth of cognitive dissonance. Saying that he was “disappointed in this decision,” he went on to say that, “‘Believer’ means a great deal to me and to the countless viewers it’s reached. Its message of religious tolerance and exploration is extremely important right now.”
“However, in these politically charged times, the tenor of our nation’s discourse has become complicated, and I recognize that CNN needs to protect its brand as an unbiased news outlet. Similarly, I need to honor my voice. I am not a journalist. I am a social commentator and scholar.”
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My statement about the cancellation of #Believer pic.twitter.com/ITtXAyQwd5
— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) June 9, 2017
In a profound display of ascetic self-discipline, Mr. Aslan didn’t refer to a single individual involved in his firing as a “piece of s***.”
There’s very little that surprises me in space year 2017, but I’m legitimately astounded that Mr. Aslan had the audacity to talk about “tolerance” and “the tenor of our nation’s discourse” after conducting himself on his official Twitter account with the refined disposition of a 13-year-old 4chan troll. The surprise isn’t that the Trump tweet got him canned; the surprise is that he was still around at CNN to make the tweet in the first place.
Then again, when you manage to survive at a network after having eaten human brains on camera, you might well have some pretty incriminating pictures of somebody in charge. Alas, Mr. Aslan learned that even CNN’s patience is not limitless. More’s the pity.
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