When WLEX (Lexington) anchor Lee Cruse declared that a racist DJ was now his “favorite” and then continued to support the guy and the racist photo he posted online, FTVLive called him out.

The Scripps station let Cruse return the very next day to work like nothing happened.

But, after FTVLive posted a story and the station started catching some heat, WLEX management decided to “further evaluate” the comments made by Cruse.

In his on air apology, Cruse made a number of excuses as to why he cast his support for the racist and his photo. One of those excuses was that he admitted he never read his scripts before the show.

So, first the guy casts his support for a racist DJ calling him his “favorite,” then he admits that as an anchor, he does not read over his scripts before going on air, which is basically like anchoring 101.

The guy should have been fired, but instead the Scripps station has decided to suspend him for a week.

“Our anchor Lee Cruse exhibited a lack of judgment on air this week, and both WLEX and Lee regret this mistake,” WLEX General Manager Pat Dalbey said in a statement. “The statements expressed were inappropriate and do not reflect who we are as a company. After evaluation of the situation, WLEX has made the decision to keep Lee off the air next week.”

Of course, even the suspension likely would not have happened if FTVLive did not shine some light on this story. It’s sad that we basically had to tell station management that it’s not OK for your anchor to show support for racism on the air.

If you ask us, Lee Cruse got off easy and maybe Scripps needs to “further evaluate” the actions of WLEX management and their actions.

Last but not least, it is here that we should point out that Cruse describes himself as a “stand-up comic, television host” and not a Journalist.

Maybe if TV stations continued to hire Journalists and not comics, this would have never happened.

Just saying…