North Carolina State announcer Gary Hahn has been suspended indefinitely after saying “illegal aliens” during a football broadcast.
“Amongst all the illegal aliens down in El Paso, it’s UCLA 14 and Pittsburgh 6,” Hahn said while broadcasting the NC State-Maryland Mayo Bowl game.
Here’s the audio:
Here's what got NCSU announcer Gary Hahn immediately and indefinitely suspended after today's broadcast: pic.twitter.com/4qkyQ1jzT2
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) December 30, 2022
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Hahn’s employer, Learfield Communications, indefinitely suspended him after making the comment.
“Learfield has suspended Wolfpack Sports Network play-by-play announcer Gary Hahn from his agreement indefinitely following comments made during today’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl radio broadcast,” Wolfpack Sports Properties general manager Kyle Winchester confirmed in a statement.
“As a broadcaster, I can tell you this was not an error/mistake or poor choice of words. His words were decisive and accurate. They were meant to convey the truth about his country being destroyed by an invading army of… ILLEGAL ALIENS. SUPPORT THIS MAN: Gary Hahn,” two-time EMMY award winning newsman Graham Ledger tweeted.
As a broadcaster, I can tell you this was not an error/mistake or poor choice of words. His words were decisive and accurate. They were meant to convey the truth about his country being destroyed by an invading army of… ILLEGAL ALIENS.
SUPPORT THIS MAN: Gary Hahn. pic.twitter.com/zD92YFy82k— Graham Ledger (@GrahamLedger) December 31, 2022
Outkick reported:
It’s unquestionably a statement of fact that there are “illegal aliens” crossing the border into El Paso, Texas, with remarkable frequency.
The mayor, just a few days ago, declared a state of emergency due to the border crisis. Perhaps most concerning was that he said he couldn’t guarantee residents’ safety, according to Fox News.
But this factual statement has been labeled by media outlets like Bleacher Report as “offensive.”
Was it offensive that he made a joke about the border disaster? Or that he referred to migrants as “illegal aliens?”
Because that’s exactly the term that official government websites use as well.
Just earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Georgia announced potential punishment for an illegal alien.
So would Learfield have punished the U.S. government for not using the correct, woke terminology?
Broadcasters are frequently allowed or even encouraged to interject political or objectionable remarks. Heck, ESPN’s Mark Jones can barely go a few days without saying something ridiculous.
But he does it from the correct ideology, which was the real reason for Hahn’s punishment.
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