Adeel Raja CNN freelance Pakistan journalist ousted after tweets praising Hitler. Anti semitic journalist had posted no less than 50 plus tweets praising Hitler.
A freelance CNN contributor has been ousted for reportedly tweeting praise for Hitler on Sunday amid the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
In a since-deleted post, Adeel Raja, a journalist based out of Pakistan, on Sunday wrote, ‘the world today needs a Hitler,’ the Washington Examiner reported.
Raja has freelanced for CNN since 2013, according to his LinkedIn account, working on several stories for the network during that time, the report said.
Raja has contributed to approximately 50 articles for CNN since 2013, with the most recent one being published on September 16, 2020.
‘The only reason I am supporting Germany in the finals – Hitler was a German and he did good with those Jews!’ Raja wrote during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The very next day, he tweeted ‘Hail Hitler’.
Calls to have Pakistan journalist banned from Twitter
It remained unclear how Raja continued to work for CNN while the anti semitic tweets had existed ongoing.
After learning off the freelancer’s latest anti semitic post, CNN cut its ties with Raja.
‘In light of these abhorrent statements, he will not be working with CNN again in any capacity,’ CNN spokesman Matt Dornic told the newspaper.
‘Adeel Raja has never been a CNN employee. As a freelancer, his reporting contributed to some news gathering efforts from Islamabad,’ Dornic said. ‘However, in light of these abhorrent statements, he will not be working with CNN again in any capacity.’
Of note, according to his LinkLdn profile, Raja is also an executive producer at Pakistani Ary News. According to his Twitter account, Raja won the Agahi Award for Investigative Journalist of the Year. The Agahi Awards are an annual series of awards for journalism in Pakistan.
Calls have since ignited for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to ban Raja from the social media site.
