CNN has parted ways with contributor Jeffrey Lord after he tweeted a Nazi salute at the president of Media Matters.
Lord, a former member of the Reagan administration and prominent supporter of President Trump, had been feuding on Twitter with Angelo Carusone over an American Spectator article Lord wrote that called Carusone and his website “Media Matters Fascists.”
Carusone pointed out on Twitter that Lord had misspelled his name in the headline, to which Lord responded “Sieg Heil!”
The phrase was used as a Nazi salute, accompanied by the raised right arm, to signify obedience to Adolf Hitler.
In a later tweet, Lord said he was “mocking a fascist.”
“Nazi salutes are indefensible,” CNN said in statement. “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”
In an apparent response to the news, Lord tweeted “LOL!”
Lord, who joined the network in 2015, was signed on as a political commentator through 2017.
Ana Navarro, another CNN contributor who frequently feuded on air with Lord, tweeted subtle shade at him after news broke.
“Pro Tip: If you’re on TV, never, ever, 1. Quote Nazis; 2. Compare anything to rape; 3. Compare anyone to Martin Luther King. You’re welcome,” she wrote.
Celebrity lawyer Lisa Bloom, however, defended him.
“I disagree with @realJeffreyLord on literally everything. But this was obviously mocking. CNN firing him for it is ridiculous,” she tweeted. “PS I’m Jewish.”
Lord’s firing marks the network’s second recent controversy, following the removal of Kathy Griffin from the New Year’s Eve special after the comedian posed for a photo with a beheaded Trump.
