Luis Moreno Jr. says he is no longer a part of the Carolina Panthers Spanish-language broadcast team because of his support of President Donald Trump.
The popular radio host, who has been calling games for the team with his uncle and play-by-play commentator Jaime Moreno since 2010, says the Panthers didn't approve of his open support of POTUS, according to the The Charlotte Observer.
Good in all languages - GREAT job by Panthers’ announcers Jaime Moreno and Luis Moreno Jr. (via @Panthers) pic.twitter.com/rhZMAISxrc
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2018
Moreno Jr. said he started sharing his support for Trump on his personal Twitter account in the spring.
From the Charlotte Observer:
"Sometime in April, Moreno Jr. says, he retweeted a tweet from his personal Twitter account that was supportive of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. Shortly thereafter, he says, he was tagged in a tweet along with several other Trump supporters.
He says he was then contacted by Eric Fiddleman — the radio and television affiliate manager for the Panthers as well as the Spanish-language radio general manager for the two announcers; Fiddleman, he says, told him the team was requesting that he remove any information related to the Panthers from his bios on his personal social-media accounts."
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After being contacted by Fiddleman, Moreno Jr. says he continued to create and share posts that were supportive of the president and his 2020 re-election campaign.
He also shared posts advancing QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory group, which falsely claims that the president is facing down a shadowy group of Democratic pedophiles.
“If people really find out what QAnon is,” said Moreno Jr., “I think that more people would be on board because we are nothing but love and truth. All we’re trying to do is just wake up people.”
Over the summer, Moreno Jr. says Fiddleman called him again to talk to him about his social media activity. Moreno Jr. says he told Fiddleman: “If what they want me to do is stop supporting the president, I’m not gonna do that.”
I want to express all my gratitude and love for EVERYONE that has reached out to me and/or has shared my story on social media. Words cannot describe how lucky and blessed I truly feel for having such amazing human beings in my life. Your are my TRIBE.❤🙏
— :LUIS F. MORENO JR: 6% Parler:LuisJr40 (@luisjr40) September 15, 2020
Moreno Jr. said that he tried to speak with Steven Drummond, the Panthers vice president of communications and external affairs, but Drummond did not return his call or email.
“I’m hurt,” Moreno Jr. said. “Because this has nothing to do with my performance on-air. This has nothing to do with how good I am at what I do. I’m one of the best, and I’ll put myself against anybody in the country when it comes to what I do in Spanish. None of my support for the president was done on any of their social media pages, it was never done on any of the airtime — whether it was a podcast or a broadcast or anything related to the Panthers. This was solely on my personal time on my personal accounts.”
I am not willing to participate in this project anymore if I’m going to be censored. So unless they call me, I’m not going to do it anymore. Because I am not OK with them censoring my freedom of speech in support of the president.’”
Ahead of the 2020 season, Moreno Jr., who was not under contract, walked away from his position and was replaced by rookie color analyst Antonio Ramos, formerly the Panthers’ Spanish Radio Network’s affiliate representative in Mexico.
Moreno Jr. is keeping busy as a stay-at-home dad for his children, ages 2 and 4. He also works as a bartender in uptown Charlotte.