Ex-ABC reporter Terry Moran immediately moves to Substack after abrupt exit
Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran announced on Wednesday that he was moving to Substack after being dropped from the network for attacking President Donald Trump and Stephen Miller on social media.
"For almost 28 years, I was a reporter and anchor for ABC News and, as you may have heard, I'm not there anymore. I'm here with you on Substack, this amazing space, and I can't wait to get at it, get at the important work that we all have to do in this time of such trouble for our country," he said in a video posted to X.
Moran, who'd been at ABC since 1997, deleted a post directed at Trump and Miller early on Sunday, and ABC News initially suspended the journalist.
Substack has become a landing area for numerous journalists who've left corporate media positions, such as ex-CNN figures Jim Acosta and Chris Cillizza.
"The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism," Moran wrote in the since-deleted weekend post on X. "Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy. But that's not what's interesting about Miller. It's not brains. It's bile."
Moran's social media rant was met with pushback from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called it "unhinged and unacceptable."
ABC News confirmed on Tuesday it was dropping Moran over the incident. Moran's contract was set to expire this week.
"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 told Fox News Digital.
"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 spokesperson added.
ABC News staffers were disappointed over Moran's rant, with some conveying surprise over his comments.
"Nobody disagrees with the decision [to suspend Moran]. Everybody was shocked, everybody was disappointed… this just sucks," one staffer told Fox News Digital after ABC's initial decision to suspend the correspondent.
ABC News journalists believe they've had a "good dialogue with the administration," and felt Moran landing the Oval Office sit-down with Trump to mark his first 100 days in office in April was proof that the relationship was workable.
"People love Terry here, I want to be clear, nobody thinks Terry is a bad person, but this was a very, very stupid thing to do in a time where all of our credibility is on the line," the staffer said, adding the entire journalism industry is fighting to win trust.
Trump called out ABC and Moran during the interview in April, as the president accused him of not being nice and asking him "fake questions."
"They're giving you the big break of a lifetime," Trump told Moran. "You're doing the interview, I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that's OK. I picked you, Terry, but you're not being very nice."
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