Missouri sports radio host Nate Lucas was temporarily suspended on August 31 after making offensive on-air comments about vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Springfield News-Leader reports.
A recording of “The Nate Lucas Show,” which plays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Springfield, Missouri’s Jock station, could not be found. However, three different sources told Springfield News-Leader Lucas used a degrading sexist word to describe the California senator.
Tom Ladd, the station’s operation manager, announced that Lucas will be off air for the rest of the week but did not provide specific information. He added the station is asking listeners to give them time to deal with the comment.
“While we’d like to say more about the situation right now, it would probably be better if we leave it at that for the time being,” Ladd said on the air Monday.
Listeners also told Springfield News-Leader that Lucas was very critical of Missouri State University’s student athletes who were planning a march through their campus to raise awareness of racial justice.
On the same day, Art Hains, a longtime host of a different show on Jock, announced he will be stepping away from the station due to Lucas’s “regrettable” comments on the student protests.
Like Lucas, people across the United States have been called out for misogynistic rhetoric against Harris.
Earlier in August, a council member in Fairmount, Virginia retracted a social media post calling Harris a “hoe” — a misspelling of “ho” — according to WTAP. In his post that followed Harris’ nomination, he said the appointment was not in line with his Christian values.
“It says a lot that Bidens first priority was the sex and race of his VP pick, and not their ability to do the job,” he originally wrote.
However, he emphasized that he is retracting the misspelling, not the statement, and that he stands by his views, despite calls for public apologies by members of the local community.
The owner of Massachusetts-based Bushel ‘N Peck restaurant chain apologized after posting a comment that insinuated Harris earned her nomination after providing sexual favors, Masslive reported.
Michael Bartosiewicz followed up with a statement published on several Bushel ‘N Peck websites.
“I would like to apologize for the crudeness and vulgarity of the comment I made in regards to Senator Harris,” the statement said. “It was a lapse of judgement, and it was in extremely poor taste. I can assure this won’t happen again, and I have learned a very valuable lesson. Thank you to those continuing to support my business, staff, and family. I hope to continue to serve you in the days to come. “
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.