CNN has cut ties with freelance contributor Adeel Raja after a series of anti-Semitic comments he had posted on social media emerged over the weekend.
In his most recent tweet, which was posted then promptly deleted from Twitter following backlash on Sunday, Raja wrote that "the world needs a Hitler."
The Islamabad-based journalist also announced his support for Hitler during the 2014 FIFA World Cup final between Germany and Argentina.
"The only reason I am supporting Germany in the finals – Hitler was a German and he did good with those Jews! he tweeted. The next day, he added, "Hail Hitler!"
The resurfacing of the tweets has sparked outrage.
"This guy has 54 articles under his byline at CNN. They should probably fire whoever does their background checks," Greg Price, a social media associate for The Daily Caller, said, according to Daily Mail.
"He really likes Hitler. He's written for CNN since 2013, I guess CNN likes to employ Nazis," said Craig Strathearn.
Another Twitter user wrote, "Homey's been cashing a CNN check for eight years," while a Pakistani woman called Raja an embarrassment to Pakistan.
Raja has contributed to dozens of articles for CNN since 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile, Washington Examiner reported. His Twitter bio formerly read "Freelance Contributor at CNN," but that has now been changed, HuffPost added.
In a statement to Washington Examiner, a spokesman for CNN initially said he had "never heard of" Raja, then explained that the journalist had "never been a CNN employee."
"As a freelancer, his reporting contributed to some newsgathering efforts from Islamabad," he said in an email. "However, in light of these abhorrent statements, he will not be working with CNN again in any capacity.”
On Monday, Raja wrote that he was "glad" that he was dropped by CNN.
"Glad a single tweet contributed to the #Palestine cause and brought it to limelight with me loosing my job and the West’s claim of Freedom of expression and human rights!" he wrote.
The ordeal comes as violence between Palestine and Israel mounts. "Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot, who formerly served in the Israeli military, came under fire last week after posting a controversial tweet regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
"My country is at war. I worry for my family, my friends. I worry for my people," she wrote. "This is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long. Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation, Our neighbors deserve the same. I pray for the victims and their families, I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end, I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days."
However, she was met with bitterness on Twitter as users brought her past into discussion and accused her of being a "propaganda" tool for Israel, as well as a supporter of "ethnic cleansing" and "mass genocide.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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