
Ex-ABC reporter fired over anti-Trump posts warns 'we will lose our democracy' after Padilla incident
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By Kristine Parks
Published June 13, 2025
Recently fired ABC News correspondent Terry Moran rallied the anti-Trump resistance in a Substack post on Friday, warning that democracy will end if people do not stand up to the current administration.
"We will lose this democracy if we do not use our voices," Moran wrote. "What happened to Senator Padilla crystallizes the danger in this moment."
Padilla, a Democratic senator from California, was forcibly removed from a news conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday after he approached Noem while she was speaking from the podium and attempted to shout over her. Law enforcement stopped Padilla's advance later pushing him to the ground and handcuffing him. Padilla had a private meeting with Noem after the event.
The scuffle went viral and drew ire from Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who condemned the incident as "unacceptable" from the Senate floor on Thursday.
EX-ABC REPORTER TERRY MORAN IMMEDIATELY MOVES TO SUBSTACK AFTER ABRUPT EXIT
Moran, who was let go from ABC this week after penning a social media rant against President Donald Trump and White House aide Stephen Miller, shared a video of Murray's speech in his Substack post.
"This is what a democracy is about, Mr. President," Murray said in the video. "It's about us coming to the U.S. Senate, speaking out, asking questions, getting information so we can be their voice. What happens when that voice is stifled? What happens when that voice is thrown to the floor and handcuffed? Our democracy is lost."
Moran hailed the senator's emotional plea and encouraged Americans to "stand up for what we know is right."
"Senator Murray is right," he wrote.
"In institution after institution, from the law firms to the universities to the Senate itself, and beyond the institutions into our everyday lives—force is being applied to your willingness to speak up and tell the truth about what you are seeing and experiencing," he wrote.
ABC NEWS' TERRY MORAN'S HISTORY OF ATTACKING TRUMP DATES BACK TO FIRST TERM IN 2017
"In the face of that danger, all of us, sooner or later, will have to make a choice," he urged, saying Americans could either pretend it wasn't happening, "cower before it," or speak out against it.
"It's a dark time. But take heart," Moran said. "What a privilege it is to be alive and an American at this moment in our history! What a joy to be able to stand up for what we know is right and best about our beloved country. To lift our voices and tell the truth. And do it together."
"Thank you, Senator Murray," his post concluded.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, "Hasn't Terry Moran already embarrassed himself enough for this week? In addition to his unhinged, late-night, public meltdown, now he's spewing Democrat propaganda. I'm sure all five of his Substack readers will appreciate this dumb take."
Moran, who had been at ABC since 1997, found himself in hot water this week after he wrote a scathing social media post early Sunday calling Trump and Miller "world-class haters."
He deleted the post but was initially suspended by ABC over the incident. The network fired him on Tuesday, days before his contract with the network was set to expire.
"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," a spokesperson for ABC News previously told Fox News Digital.
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