Jeffrey Lord: 'CNN caved on the First Amendment' when it fired him

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Jeffrey Lord fired from CNN over Nazi slogan

Firestorm of controversy after CNN fires commentator Jeffrey Lord over his use of a Nazi slogan

Conservative commentator Jeffrey Lord spoke out about being fired from CNN, saying "CNN caved" when they let him go on Thursday.

"I want to make something very clear. I have nothing but respect, affection and love for CNN. I think the world of CNN," Lord told The Associated Press. "I think they're terrific people and serious people."

Lord was given the boot after he tweeted a Nazi salute at a critic.

A network spokesperson called the Nazi salute "indefensible" in a statement, confirming that Lord was no longer with the network hours after Lord tweeted the Nazi slogan "Sieg Heil!" at the head of a liberal advocacy group, Media Matters for America.

Lord called himself a "First Amendment fundamentalist" and said CNN's decision was disappointing.

"From my perspective CNN caved on the First Amendment of all things. I disagree. I respectfully disagree."

He said his "Sieg Heil!" tweet was not an endorsement of Nazism or fascist tactics, but was meant to mock Media Matters and its use of boycotts.

He declined to get into specifics of how he was fired, saying he wanted to keep that a private conversation.

Lord may think CNN made the wrong move in letting him go, but many people on Twitter felt the network was right in saying "good riddance."

Lord is a former Reagan administration staffer who is currently a columnist for the conservative magazine The American Spectator. He was brought on to CNN in 2015 as one of the first fully pro-Trump commentators after the then-candidate first entered the GOP primary race. The network has since added pro-Trump contributors following the election.

“Caving to bullies, caving to people who use fascist and Nazi-style tactics to try and remove people from the air is unacceptable,” Lord told Entertainment Weekly after his dismissal.

“I mocked this guy. Mocking Nazis is OK. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing. A writer has only a handful of tools in his writer’s box, and mockery is one of them. To suggest that this is anything other than that, to my way of thinking, is caving in. And I’m not going to cave.”

The Anne Frank Center tweeted a rebuke of Lord’s use of the phrase.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.