A play-by-play announcer for North Carolina State will return to the airwaves two weeks after a remark about “illegal aliens” in El Paso, Texas earned him a temporary suspension.
Gary Hahn made the comment on December 30 while calling NC State’s game against Maryland. During the game, he provided an update on the Sun Bowl, which is played in El Paso, by noting that there were “illegal aliens” amongst the crowd in the stadium.
Kyle Winchester, the general manager for Learfield Communications, said Hahn was suspended indefinitely for his remarks that day. Learfield operates the Wolfpack Sports Network, which employs Hahn.
On Wednesday, a representative of Learfield told local ABC station WTVD (Channel 11) that Hahn will return to the airwaves on January 14. It was not clear if he faced additional disciplinary action for the remarks. He has worked as a play-by-play announcer for NC State games over the last three decades.
Hahn’s comments came at a time when El Paso was dealing with a wave of undocumented migrants who have crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas over the last several weeks.
The surge in migrants crossing the border was triggered by the planned sunset of a Trump administration policy called Title 42 that allowed migrants the chance to seek asylum during the coronavirus pandemic. Title 42 was due to expire at the end of the year, but a Supreme Court decision means it will remain in place until at least February 2023.
Enough already with going overboard on political correctness. Even Bill Maher says America has gone too far…and I believe most people with an ounce of common sense would agree.
A sportscaster’s personal political views have no place in broadcasting a college basketball game. It’s disrespectful to the colleges, the students, the players, and their parents. Also disrespectful to the advertisers, who thought they were sponsoring an innocent game, not political commentary. People go to sports events to avoid a lot of these kinds of things.
You and Mr. Hahn can put your MAGA hats back on. Disapointed that my University failed to take a stand and fire a racist.
You are correct Layla. Biden opened up the boarders, President Trump has always been for legal immigration, not open boarders.
Love how they say it was Trumps fault for surge. That’s priceless. You always need to read and really think of the way press delivers. Surge HAS been going on. It’s Biden…..not a Trump issue.