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Sinclair TV Host Resigns After Vulgar Tweet Threatening Parkland Survivor

A conservative St. Louis media personality has resigned from the television show he hosted, two weeks after posting a crude tweet that threatened Parkland survivor David Hogg.

Jamie Allman was host of nightly news and commentary show The Allman Report on KDNL — an ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Sinclair is the largest owner of TV channels in the U.S. and has been seen as pushing a conservative message on its channels — including in recent weeks, when it asked its anchors across the nation to read the same speech warning against "biased and false news."

In his tweet, Allman wrote that he has "been hanging out getting ready to ram a hot poker up David Hogg's a** tomorrow . Busy working . Preparing ."

Allman posted his tweet on March 26, two days before Fox News host Laura Ingraham mocked Hogg in a tweet for being rejected from colleges to which he had applied. Ingraham later apologized to Hogg, but nearly 20 companies pulled advertising from her show, which she returned to last night after a week's vacation.

After the furor over Ingraham, Allman's vulgar message drew wider notice. Missouri state Rep. Stacey Newman began calling for advertisers to abandon his show, and at least three advertisers pulled their ads.

On Monday night, Sinclair said Allman's run at the network was over.

"We have accepted Mr. Allman's resignation, and his show has been canceled," a spokesman for Sinclair told The Washington Post and other outlets.

Allman also hosts a morning show on local news-talk radio station KFTK 97.1. A request for comment from the station was not immediately returned.

The Post reports that Allman was absent from his show on Tuesday morning and that a substitute host only said, "Jamie's taking a couple of days off."

Allman was previously the spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Laurel Wamsley is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She reports breaking news for NPR's digital coverage, newscasts, and news magazines, as well as occasional features. She was also the lead reporter for NPR's coverage of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.