Later, al-Jiyusi says on his Facebook page he felt insulted by the way he had been called a supporter of Syria's ruling Baath party. It was "as if being a Baathist is a punishable charge, or an affront". Al-Jiyusi says he told the other pundit he is "honoured to be a Baathist" and is a correspondent for the Syrian state news agency Sana and of the al-Baath newspaper.