The Thursday firing of a popular television meteorologist in Florida has become a bit of a political firestorm, with politicians arguing the termination was due to politics, not performance. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the latest politician to get involved in the firing, calling on WINK-TV to return Chief Meteorologist Matt Devitt to the air.
On January 11, the Former Speaker went on X and wrote, “WINK tv owes all of us an explanation for what happened with Matt Devitt. Thousands of us have come to trust him, like him and rely on him. What happened? WINK owes all of us an answer.”
It looks like the firing of a TV meteorologist in Florida has become political, with even Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich offering his thoughts on the firing of @MattDevittWX : https://t.co/EtcuWJKu8i
— the Weatherboy (@theWeatherboy) January 13, 2026
Since then, an unverified report from “Beach Talk Radio” wrote on Facebook, “The reason Matt was fired, from what we are told, was because the new boss did not like that he was taking extra time during his dinner breaks to help his wife with their newborn baby. He even requested to come into work earlier so he could go home earlier and that was denied (his shift was 2:30PM to midnight). The suits expected a one hour dinner break to be no longer than one hour. They called what Matt did insubordination, a violation of his contract, dragged him into the GM’s office and fired him on the spot last Thursday. He has a non-compete agreement for one year.”
The Former Speaker of the House copied those comments and added, “If this report is true the entire WINK senior management should be fired and matt devitt reinstated with back pay” on X.
Despite numerous requests for comment, WINK-TV hasn’t released any comments or statements on the matter. And Devitt only confirmed he was fired in an online statement but didn’t go into details why.
Catalina Lauf, a Republican running for the 19th Congressional District House Seat, replied to Gingrich online saying the Devitt firing was political.
“My primary opponent, Jim owns WINK. It’s clear in SWFL that he is a RINO hack, possibly a closet DEM. His liberal leadership fired the beloved @MattDevittWX who brought so much hope to SWFL during Hurricane Ian,” wrote Lauf in a post on X to Gingrich.
Jim Schwartzel is the president of Sun Broadcasting, which owns local media outlets, including 92.5 FOX News and The CW, which airs WINK News. In 2025 he announced he would be running as a Republican for the same seat Lauf wants.
Due to Lauf’s accusation on X, Schwartzel released a comment on the matter today on X writing, “For political reasons, some are circulating false claims that I own or control WINK News. I want to be clear: I do not own WINK TV or WINK News. I am not employed by WINK and I have no role in its parent company, Fort Myers Broadcasting Co. I own Sun Broadcasting, Inc., which owns and operates 92.5 FOX News radio, 93.7 Trump Country radio, as well as other radio and media properties. Any statement to the contrary is either misinformed or a deliberate lie.”
Devitt joined WINK-TV as a morning meteorologist almost 10 years ago in February 2016. He was promoted to Chief Meteorologist in March of 2021, a role he has kept since. Prior to WINK, Devitt worked for WSAV-TV as a meteorologist for the Savannah, Georgia station there. Before WSAV-TV, Devitt spent a year at KHBS/KHOG-TV in Rogers, Arkansas as a meteorologist there too.
Since posting about his departure, tens of thousands of people have posted on social media, with most expressing dismay over it. On X, 962 people replied to Devitt’s departure post, including many meteorologists from other markets. The noise on Facebook has been much louder though; more than 27,000 people left comments, mostly negative, and marked the post with 74,000 reactions supportive of Devitt and not of WINK. Many have written about their anger with the television station and the way his termination was handled.
In addition to taking a political angle, with some suggesting Devitt was fired for having conservative leaning beliefs, people are organizing petitions to get him back. One such petition on Change.org has captured over 2,220 signatures;
Jim Baribault who started that petition wrote, “Therefore, I urge Wink Weather to reconsider their decision and bring back Matt Devitt to continue his role as our trusted meteorologist. The community stands behind him, and his presence is crucial to maintaining the high standards of weather reporting that we have come to rely on.”
