Sports Reporter Fired After Using Slur Against Black Republican Senator

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) listens as Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) speak to reporters after the Senate Republicans weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, on June 23, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

A longtime sports reporter was fired after using a slur on social media to describe Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), one of three African-American senators in Washington.

Fred Gerteiny, whose Twitter timeline is full of anti-President Donald Trump and anti-Republican sentiment, claimed Scott was a sellout for declining to criticize the president over his response to a call to condemn white supremacists during Tuesday night’s debate.

Gerteiny, a sports anchor for News 12 in Connecticut, used a slur to convey his claim.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for the network told The Epoch Times: “News 12 has a zero tolerance policy for racism and improper conduct based on race. We can confirm he is no longer with the company.”

In a brief statement on its website, News 12 said it learned Wednesday that an anchor “acted inappropriately on social media.”

“After reviewing the incident, the network released sports reporter, Fred Gerteiny, as a result of a racially insensitive comment,” it added.

Gerteiny deleted the slur and apologized for using it.

“Earlier today, I tweeted a racially insensitive comment,” he said, adding: “I apologize to the Senator, my colleagues @News12CT, and anyone else I may have offended with this deeply offensive tweet.”

Gerteiny later deleted the apology.

In another post, he said he'd sent an email to Scott apologizing.

Scott’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

According to Gerteiny’s LinkedIn page, he'd been a sports anchor at News 12 since July 2005.