CNN cuts ties with political commentator Jeffrey Lord, network says

Political commentator Jeffrey Lord was fired from CNN on Thursday after tweeting an offensive remark -- the words "Sieg Heil!" -- towards liberal activist Angelo Carusone, according to CNNMoney.

Carusone responded to Lord's Nazi reference by saying, "Behold! @CNN's resident Trump advocate Jeffrey Lord. At least they aren't trying to to hide anything anymore ..."

He later tweeted a statement saying, "CNN does not seem to hold Jeffrey Lord to any kind of standard."

According to the network, Lord and Carusone -- president of the liberal group Media Matters for America -- have had several disagreements.

In a written statement, a CNN spokesperson said, "Nazi salutes are indefensible. Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network."

Lord, who is one of CNN's best-known commentators, reacted to the news Thursday saying he respects CNN and its journalists, but disagrees with the network's decision to fire him.

He said that he used the phrase as part of a column he wrote for the conservative magazine The American Spectator in which he accused Media Matters of employing fascist tactics by targeting advertisers of prominent conservative hosts such as Sean Hannity, The Associated Press reports.

AP writes that Lord said he was in no way endorsing Nazism or fascist tactics, but was trying to mock critics who he thinks use their tactics to silence conservative voices.

During his presence on CNN's airwaves -- he was retained by the network in August 2015 -- Lord frequently riled CNN hosts including Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon, fellow commentators and viewers with many of his statements, the AP reports.

The AP adds that during Super Tuesday election night coverage in March 2016 he argued that the KKK was a left-wing organization because of Democrats' support of it many decades before. In April, he called President Trump the "Martin Luther King" of health care.

Lord didn't readily comment about how CNN informed him of his firing.

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