Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Brings Up Marc Lamont Hill’s CNN Firing as Example of ‘Cancel Culture’ on the Right

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) brought up Marc Lamont Hill’s firing from CNN as an example of “cancel culture.”

In an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick that happened on Feb. 1 and was published on Monday, Ocasio-Cortez said:

You talk about cancel culture. But notice that those discussions only go one way. We don’t talk about all the people who were fired. You just kind of talk about, like, right-leaning podcast bros and more conservative figures. But, for example, Marc Lamont Hill was fired [from CNN] for discussing an issue with respect to Palestinians, pretty summarily. There was no discussion about it, no engagement, no thoughtful discourse over it, just pure accusation.

Hill was fired from CNN in 2018 after he called, in front of the United Nations, for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

The Anti-Defamation League explains the phrase:

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a slogan commonly featured in pro-Palestinian campaigns and chanted at demonstrations.

While some who utilize this slogan may interpret it as a general plea for Palestinian rights and equality, many understand it in its plain text reading as a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, implying the dismantling of the Jewish state. Indeed, this rallying cry has long been used by the anti-Israel terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the PFLP, which seek Israel’s destruction through violent means.

Hill defended his words.

“My reference to ‘river to the sea’ was not a call to destroy anything or anyone. It was a call for justice, both in Israel and in the West Bank/Gaza. The speech very clearly and specifically said those things. No amount of debate will change what I actually said or what I meant,” he tweeted at the time.