CNN severed ties with conservative commentator Jeffrey Lord on Thursday after he tweeted the phrase “Sieg heil” at a liberal activist.

“Nazi salutes are indefensible,” the news network said in statement. “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”

The former Reagan administration staffer tweeted the words at Angelo Carusone, the head of Media Matters for America.

Carusone had criticized Lord for misspelling a headline in a piece for The American Spectator.

Lord defended his response by saying he was “mocking a fascist.”