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ABC News is parting ways with correspondent and anchor Terry Moran just days after he posted a screed on X calling Donald Trump and his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller “world-class haters.”
Two days after the network suspended him over the since-deleted tweet, ABC News asserted that Moran’s contract was set to expire and, therefore, based on his social media posts violating the network’s policies, they had decided not to bring him back.
“We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew.,” an ABC News spokesperson told The Independent. “At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism.”
The termination is a stunning change of fortunes for Moran, who just six weeks ago had sat down with the president for a high-profile and newsmaking interview. During that one-on-one with Trump, Moran repeatedly pushed the president on his false claims that Kilmar Abrego Garcia literally had “MS-13” tattooed on his hands, prompting Trump to rage against the ABC News anchor throughout the interview.
However, it was the two tweets about Trump and one of his top advisers — who is also the administration’s immigration policy architect — that provoked intense backlash from the White House, which demanded ABC News take immediate action against Moran.
“Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred,” Moran posted about Miller early on Sunday morning. “He’s a world-class hater. You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”
He added: “The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism. It’s not brains. It’s bile.”
With MAGA world demanding that Moran be fired while liberals backed his posts as being factually accurate, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the veteran correspondent’s tweet “unhinged and unacceptable” before noting that the White House had reached out to the network to “inquire about how they plan to hold Terry accountable.” She also expressed hope that Moran would “either be suspended or terminated.” Shortly after Leavitt’s post, the network would oblige.
“ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others,” an ABC News spokesperson said on Sunday morning. “The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards — as a result, Terry Moran has been suspended pending further evaluation.”
Moran, who had been with the network since 1997, had previously served as the Sunday anchor for World News Tonight before moving to Nightline in 2005, where he co-anchored through 2013. Since then, he had been the network’s senior national correspondent until his tenure abruptly came to an end this week.
“The fact that Moran was at the end of a contract cycle — his deal was set to expire on Friday, according to a person briefed on the matter — made it easier for ABC to take swift action,” CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter reported.
Ahead of Moran’s termination, the New York Post reported that ABC News staffers were “p*ssed” at the longtime reporter over the social media rant, with some even calling for him to be fired. It has also been suggested that network executives found themselves in an easy position to trim some salary from the budget amid belt-tightening at the company, particularly since Moran likely earned in the high six-digits.
Still, the network is bound to receive criticism for seemingly capitulating to the administration once again, especially as media conglomerates and law firms have come increasingly under fire for appeasing the president rather than fighting back against his legal threats. It was just months ago that ABC News paid the president $15 million to settle a defamation case over anchor George Stephanopoulos claiming Trump was found liable of raping E. Jean Carroll. The president was found liable for sexual abuse.
