Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on Tuesday deleted a “poorly worded” post on X after drawing backlash following the death of two people in a in a plane crash at Georgia’s Covington Airport east of Atlanta.
Hasan had posted “Make American Planes Crash Again” mocking President Donald Trump‘s “Make America Great Again” slogan to highlight the recent plane crashes under the Trump administration.
“I deleted this sarcastic quote-tweet because MAGA and Islamophobic folks are clipping it out of context and trying to ridiculously suggest I’m inciting violence,” Hasan wrote.
“I was obviously mocking the MAGA slogan ‘Make America… Again’ slogan and highlighting the shocking number of plane crashes under Trump and the FAA cuts.But this tweet was in poor taste, poorly worded, and has allowed people in bad faith to call me a terrorist, with one New York Post reporter cc-ing the FBI. So I deleted it. Meanwhile, the right wants to silence all journalists while crying ‘a show free speech!” he added.
Earlier, vice president JD Vance also slammed journalist Mehdi Hasan for pointing out his hypocrisy after he claimed that European countries are suppressing free speech, while the White House simultaneously banned news agency Associated Press for its continued use of the Gulf of Mexico.
The war of words erupted after Hasan tagged Vance and linked to an Axios article which said that the Trump administration’s decision to indefinitely block AP from the White House over usage style was an attack on free press. “Hey JD Vance I know you’re busy lecturing the Europeans on free speech, but have you seen this?” Hasan said.
Hasan started his own Substack called “Zeteo” after his MSNBC canceled his namesake show and let him go in 2024 after he was criticized for his inflammatory comments in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ deadly terror on Israel on October 7.