WSU: We lost $1.6 million in pledges after Mike Leach tweeted fake Obama video

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Washington State lost out on over $1.5 million after football coach Mike Leach tweeted out a blatantly doctored video of President Barack Obama this summer.

Leach tweeted out the video in June and asked his followers for their thoughts. The video was heavily edited to make Obama appear to be saying things he was clearly not actually saying in a 2014 speech to the European Union. Leach was defiant after tweeting the video and even got into a spat with a sportswriter following the tweet.

His actions cost the school some serious cash. A spokesperson told the Lewiston Tribune that the school lost out on pledges totaling $1.6 million in the aftermath of Leach’s decision to tweet out the video.

A follow-up email Wednesday evening from Marketing and Communications Vice President Phil Weiler clarified the amount: “As the president mentioned, no one who had made a cash gift has asked for their money back. We did have five donors let us know that they had altered plans for their future giving, however. These were primarily estate gifts that would have been paid out upon the donor’s death. These planned estate gifts totaled $1.6 million.”

If Leach immediately apologized for tweeting out the video and said he made a mistake and wouldn’t repeat it again it’s easy to see how the dumb decision wouldn’t have been a big deal. But he didn’t do that.

The eccentric coach engaged with people on Twitter after posting the video, asking users to “prove” that the video was fake. From our own Ryan Young in June:

All told, Leach asked Twitter users to “prove it” nine different times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) as he continued to march through the internet battlegrounds, conveniently missing the many people trying to provide him with proof the video he shared was fake.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/washington-state-we-lost-dollar16-million-in-pledges-after-mike-leach-tweeted-fake-obama-video/ar-BBPMbfX?li=BBnb7Kz

[brush]

1. Guess the school was waiting to axe him to see how the team would do this year.

He's lucky they're in first place.

It's all about the money with these big-time football programs.

[central scrutinizer]

2. Bwahhahhah

He was fired from Texas Tech for harassing a player who wouldn’t play with a concussion. Asshole

[CatMor]

3. I'm surprised he still has his job.....

he should have been fired but I guess winning games is more important than having integrity.

[Bradshaw3]

4. Surprised to read this about him

I've interviewed him and thought he was one of the most intelligent coaches I ever talked to (I know, low bar). He has a law degree and while eccentric he always seemed pretty bright. Maybe he has a side that wasn't public till now.

[Gothmog]

5. I remember when Texas Tech fired him

[Salviati]

6. Take it out of his salary.

He's making $4 million a year. Make him cough it up.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

7. If any other employee of Wazzu had caused

the University to lose $1.6 million in funds, they's have had their ass handed to them by the Chancellor that afternoon.

This really does reveal where the university's priorities lie.