Chicago sports reporter Mark Giangreco has been suspended for a tweet that attacked both President Donald Trump and those who voted for him.
Giangreco covers sports for WLS-Channel 7, ABC's Chicago affiliate, and was issued a "multi-week suspension" without pay by the station, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday evening.
The anchor made his anti-Trump comment while responding to a Sunday tweet from a columnist for the Toronto Star, Bruce Arthur, who wrote, "Donald Trump: a hateful ignorant corrupt simpleton supported by 87% of Republicans."
Donald Trump: a hateful ignorant corrupt simpleton supported by 87% of Republicans
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) February 19, 2017
Giangreco responded with a tweet that attacked the president and his supporters as a "lunatic" and "simpletons," respectively.
"So obvious, so disturbing. America exposed as a country full of simpletons who allowed this cartoon lunatic to be 'elected,'" Giangreco wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.
Conservative talk radio host Dan Proft noticed the tweet before it was deleted and reported on it.
WLS-Channel 7 issued a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times on the matter.
"Sports Anchor Mark Giangreco's Twitter comments are not in line with ABC 7 Chicago's non-partisan editorial standards," the statement said. "We've reviewed the matter and are taking the appropriate action."
Giangreco has been with WLS-Channel 7 since 1994, working as the station's sports director and primary sports anchor/reporter.
Giangreco's brother, Pete Giangreco, is a top Chicago Democratic consultant who has worked with Illinois Democratic politicians President Barack Obama, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth.