The former news anchor was featured as Erin Burnett's guest on CNN Wednesday, where they spoke about this sit-down Don did with Elon just yesterday -- which then triggered Elon to terminate his company's deal with Don to host and distribute his new show with them.

Obviously, everyone has been curious about what exactly was said that pissed EM off so much -- and now, we have a sense of what it might've been ... 'cause CNN aired 3 excerpts.

The first clip they played showed Don rattling off stats about an uptick in hate speech on X -- and DL even entertained the topic of the Great Replacement Theory, embraced by white supremacists ... which Elon's been accused of entertaining and tolerating on his platform.

You could tell right off the bat that Elon was annoyed by the line of questioning -- and he even let Don know, he doesn't have to answer anyone's questions ... noting he only agreed to chat with Don because he was now part of the X family, and Don asked for an interview.

It was an icy interaction ... and Don goes on to tell Erin he doesn't think Elon is willing to accept facts -- going on to say he feels like Elon doesn't have to answer to anyone or take accountability for what's posted on X. The clips didn't end there, though ... there was more.

Another clip aired where Don asked Elon about his ketamine use -- something Elon has admitted to -- and while that topic wasn't nearly as awkward ... you can tell it was somewhat personal for Elon. He basically said if people are depressed, they should look into it.

They also talked politics at one point ... and Elon said he wasn't ready to endorse any candidate just yet -- although he did say he was leaning away from Biden. He noted he and Trump had recently spoken at Mar-a-Lago ... and said he hadn't donated to DT at all.

Long story short ... Don went back into the lion's den to air these clips -- which is pretty ironic, considering they kicked him to the curb, albeit under different leadership.