Mark Giangreco Suspended For Trump Tweet

CHICAGO, IL — President Donald J. Trump doesn't hold back from making his opinion known on Twitter, and now a Chicago sports anchor has been suspended for doing the same.

Longtime ABC 7 anchor Mark Giangreco was benched after a now-deleted tweet calling Trump a "cartoon lunatic" who was allowed to be elected by a "country full of simpletons," the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The Feb. 19 tweet was a response to a comment from Toronto Star sports columnist Bruce Arthur, who called Trump a "hateful ignorant corrupt simpleton," media blogger Robert Feder reported Thursday.

In a statement, WLS-Channel 7 management told the Daily Herald, "Mark Giangreco's Twitter comments are not in line with ABC 7 Chicago's nonpartisan editorial standards," adding the station is "taking the appropriate action."

Giangreco appeared on the 5 p.m. newscast despite a report earlier in the day from Feder saying he was slapped with a "multi-week suspension" without pay.

It's not the first time Giangreco's remarks have gotten him in trouble. After the Detroit Pistons won the NBA Championship in 2004, he was suspended for a week for joking it was a "typical night for Detroit" while a black-and-white clip of a city burning played.

In his Twitter bio, Giangreco refers to himself as a "Closet Cartoonist and All-Around Jaded, Cynical Smartass."

Giangreco has been with ABC 7 Chicago since 1994. He served as the sports director for WMAQ-TV from 1983 to 1994.