Conservative Ed Martin Out as CNN Contributor

Former Missouri politician and reliable Trump supporter Ed Martin is out as a CNN contributor, a network spokesperson confirmed Thursday to The Hollywood Reporter.

Martin joined the network as a contributor in September, and essentially filled the Trump-backer slot that was vacated when the network fired Jeffrey Lord for tweeting a Nazi salute at the president of the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America. CNN did not formally announce Martin’s hiring, but he seemingly wrote up his own press release and published it on Twitter.

Martin certainly made his presence felt on CNN. He tussled regularly with panelists and was called out on numerous occasions by fellow Republican Ana Navarro.

In a post Thursday, Media Matters pointed out that Martin hasn’t appeared on air since mid-December, when he said on his radio show that some of his fellow panelists on a particular segment were “black racists.” The organization also called him out for saying on his radio show this week that it was “really funny” when the president told CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta to get “out!” of the room while he tried to ask questions during a pool spray.

Martin is the former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, and the co-author of a book called The Conservative Case for Trump. THR has reached out to Martin for comment.

When asked by THR in late September to appraise Martin, Lord said, “He’s great — a smart guy and I’m sure he will do well. Doubtless he, like me, will say things that go against the grain. After a while it will add up and there will surely be those pushing to get rid of him.”

In a statement, Media Matters for America president Angelo Carusone said he’s happy that CNN parted ways with Martin. “Martin followed the same pattern of previous pro-Trump surrogates: dishonesty and disruptions during on-air discussions,” he said. “Hopefully now CNN will finally recognize that they’ll better serve their audience by hiring an inclusive group of honest brokers representing a wide range of perspectives rather than someone dedicated to defending one person, Donald Trump, no matter what.”

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