Chicago Sportscaster Hit With Suspension For Calling Trump A 'Cartoon Lunatic'

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 24, 2017 4:45PM

Despite the fact that President Donald Trump is often virtually indistinguishable from Mr. Burns, veteran sportscaster Mark Giangreco was hit with a suspension by ABC Channel 7, WLS-TV, for calling Trump a "cartoon lunatic" and saying America was "full of simpletons" for having elected him president.

The flap follows from a Tweet that Giangreco, sports anchor with ABC since 1994, sent on Sunday in reply to Toronto Star sports columnist Bruce Arthur. Arthur blasted Trump as "a hateful ignorant corrupt simpleton" who had nonetheless garnered a majority of support from the GOP.

Giangreco, famous in Chicago for his sardonic style on TV, agreed with the sentiment and added his own shots. "America exposed as a country full of simpletons who allowed this cartoon to lunatic to be 'elected,'" he replied to Arthur on Twitter, with scare quotes around "elected" seemingly in reference to Trump's loss of the popular vote. (Giangreco subsequently deleted the tweet, but it was captured by the conservative-leaning Chicago City Wire.)

The comments have temporarily cost Giangreco has position at the station, after ABC7 confirmed on Thursday that he had been suspended. "Sporst anchor Mark Giangreco's Twitter comments are not in line with ABC7 Chicago's non-partisan editorial standards," management said in a statement. "We've reviewed the matter and are taking the appropriate action." Veteran media columnist Robert Feder reported that sources said Giangreco would be suspended for multiple weeks without pay.

Giangreco was previously suspended by the station, in 2014, for one week after saying it was a "typical night for Detroit" as black-and-white video aired of a city aflame.

There were several calls on social media on Thursday evening and Friday morning for Giangreco's reinstatement.