Re: I don't think it was NPR
Seems to me it was the station manager who fired him. Whether this was due to a standing NPR policy is unclear.
But this kind of thing happens all the time when a radio personality or on-air employee steps out of line. Rush Limbaugh almost brags about the number of times he got canned for similar seemingly minor offenses.
As for NPR funding, I don't think my taxes should be paying for this sort of thing (among others), but this incident has nothing whatsoever to do with my opinion.