ABC News suspends journalist who called Trump, top aide ‘world-class' haters
LONDON: ABC News has suspended one of its senior national correspondents after he published a series of now-deleted social media posts in which he described US President Donald Trump and top adviser Stephen Miller as 'world-class haters.'
Veteran journalist Terry Moran, who recently interviewed Trump, wrote in the posts that both the president and the White House deputy chief of staff — known as the architect of the administration's mass deportation policy — were driven by deep animosity toward their political opponents.
An ABC News spokesperson, in a statement on Sunday, confirmed Moran's suspension 'pending further evaluation,' and said the network 'stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.'
The spokesperson added: 'The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards.'
Moran claimed in the tweets that Miller 'is not the brains behind' Trumpism, but rather someone who channels its 'impulses' into policy through sheer malice.
He wrote: 'It's not brains. It's bile. Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world-class hater.'
Moran added: 'You can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.'
Turning to Trump, Moran wrote: 'Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred (is) only a means to an end, and that end (is) his own glorification.'
The posts sparked a backlash from conservative figures and further deepened tensions between ABC News, owned by The Walt Disney Company, and Trump's allies.
The network last year agreed to pay $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, in what was seen as a rare concession by a major broadcaster.
Reacting to Moran's comments, Vice President JD Vance called them a 'vile smear,' and added: 'It's dripping with hatred.'
Miller also responded, saying: 'The most important fact about Terry's full public meltdown is what it shows about the corporate press in America. For decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist's pose. Terry pulled off his mask.'
Moran's posts came as the Trump administration, reportedly under Miller's strategic direction, ramped up rhetoric around immigration and called for expanded deportation efforts.
Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent weeks across major US cities, including Los Angeles, have reignited public protests. Some demonstrations outside the federal building in downtown LA have turned violent amid unconfirmed reports that detainees were being held inside.
ABC News has not announced when or whether Moran will return to the network.
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