Ohio Radio Station Fires Anchor Who Referred To Kamala Harris As “Colored”

A news anchor has been fired from his Cleveland radio station for referring the Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris as “colored.”

WTAM brass sent Kyle Cornell packing Thursday after a social media backlash over his remarks that aired in a news teaser during Wednesday night’s Cleveland Indians game. He called her America’s “first colored vice presidential candidate.”

Outraged reaction was swift to hit social media, and the station wasted little time in parting ways with Cornell.

“We are aware of the reference made on WTAM by Kyle Cornell,” WTAM program director said in a statement Thursday. “We take this matter very seriously and addressed it immediately. The term used is extremely offensive and does not align with our station’s core values and commitment to the communities we serve. He is no longer with WTAM.”

Cornell apologized in an interview with WKYC-TV Cleveland on Thursday. “I wasn’t trying to be malicious or in any way decimate the character or anything like that,” the 26-year-old said. “That was never the goal. And for that, I am truly sorry.”

He also apologized to the station and his former colleagues, saying, “I just want them to understand it was a rough choice to make and that I accept my punishment. … I hope that they can forgive me for making an error in judgement and something that I know is not me.”

Harris made history on Wednesday when she accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for vice president, running alongside former VP Joe Biden. The Oakland native’s mother is from India, and her father hails from Jamaica.