Correspondent Terry Moran is out at ABC News, two days after the organization suspended its correspondent for a social media post that called Trump administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller a “world class hater.”
The network said Tuesday that it was at the end of its contract with Moran “and based on his recent post — which was a clear violation of ABC News policies — we have made the decision not to renew.”
The Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance, quickly condemned Moran for his late-night X post criticizing Miller, which was swiftly deleted.
Moran had interviewed President Donald Trump only a few weeks ago. He said in his X post that the president was also a hater, but that his hatred was in service of his own glorification.
But for Miller, Moran said, “his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”
Moran, 65, had worked at ABC News since 1997. He was a longtime co-anchor of “Nightline,” and covered the Supreme Court and national politics. During an interview with Trump that was broadcast in prime-time a month ago, the president said “you’re not being very nice” in the midst of a contentious exchange about deportations.
In a particularly bad case of timing for him, Moran’s contract with ABC had been due to expire on Friday, according to people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about personnel issues.
His post, a breach of traditional journalism ethics on expressing personal opinions on reporting subjects, came at what was already a sensitive time for ABC News. The network agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library in December, in order to settle a defamation lawsuit over George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate assertion that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump aide Steven Cheung responded to Moran’s exit on Tuesday with a profane comment on X, saying those who talk down the president and his staff “get hit.”