Sam Kuffel, a meteorologist at WDJT-TV (Channel 58), was dropped by the Milwaukee CBS affiliate Wednesday, one day after she criticized Elon Musk on Instagram for his straight-arm gesture that many have likened to a Nazi salute.
The day before, conservative WISN-AM (1130) talk-radio host Dan O’Donnell criticized Kuffel for her posts; in a post on X, he called Kuffel’s Instagram posts “vulgar” and accused her of “spreading the lie that Elon Musk was giving a Nazi salute” during the presidential inauguration.
It wasn’t the first time a Milwaukee broadcaster has gotten into hot water over something they said on the air or in social media. Here are a few examples.
Mark Belling
On his popular afternoon drive-time show on WISN-AM (1130), conservative talk show host Mark Belling on Oct. 27, 2004, used a disparaging term referring to Mexican immigrants when talking about voter turnout on Milwaukee’s south side in the upcoming presidential election.
Five days later, Belling went on the air and apologized, admitting the term was “derogatory,” adding later that he “should have used a different mean term.” Local Latino leaders, saying Belling’s “flimsy apology is not enough,” began a string of protests against Belling and WISN, and called for a boycott of his show’s advertisers.
Although the radio station initially stood by Belling and said the apology was sufficient, by Nov. 10, 2004, the station told Latino leaders he had been pulled off the air “indefinitely.” The suspension lasted one week.
Mike McGee
Mike McGee, a former Milwaukee alderman and activist, was suspended from his “Word Warriors” show on WNOV-AM (860) on Dec. 3, 2004, for using an obscenity on the air to refer to state lawmakers. (McGee told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had “voluntarily suspended my show”; owner Jerrel Jones said he had ordered the suspension.) McGee was off the air for nearly a month.
McGee was suspended a second time in May 2007 for disparaging comments he made on the air about the death of Katherine Sykes, the mother of Charlie Sykes, then a conservative talk-show host on WTMJ-AM (620). McGee’s show never returned to WNOV after that.
Ted Perry
In November 2020, WITI-TV (Channel 6) news anchor Ted Perry posted on his personal Facebook page what he considered a joke about U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: “2020 takes Alex Trebek but leaves Mitch McConnell? Just end already.” Perry was suspended and taken off anchoring duties on Channel 6’s 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts for at least a week.
Perry later apologized on Facebook: “I made a statement on my personal Facebook page that was insensitive and does not reflect my journalist values and I was not speaking on behalf of my employer.”
Jay Weber
During the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, WISN-AM (1130) conservative talk-show host Jay Weber mocked Gus Walz, the 17-year-old son of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, for his emotional reaction to his father’s speech at the convention.
In a post on X, Weber called Walz — who has ADHD, an anxiety disorder and a non-verbal learning disorder — a “blubbering bitch boy” after the boy jumped up and could be seen tearfully saying: “That’s my dad! That’s my dad!”
After getting criticized online for his comments, Weber deleted his post and apologized, writing, “I didn’t realize the kid was disabled.”
Following continued criticism and calls for a boycott of WISN and parent company iHeartMedia Milwaukee, Weber was suspended on Aug. 23, 2024. He returned to his show on Sept. 9, 2024.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Before Sam Kuffel, Milwaukee broadcasters who got in trouble for remarks
