Terry Moran defends 'accurate' post about Stephen Miller, Trump after ABC ouster
Terry Moran defends 'accurate' post about Stephen Miller, Trump after ABC ouster
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ABC News ousts reporter who called Trump a 'world class hater'
ABC News has ended its relationship with longtime reporter Terry Moran after a post on social media drew internal backlash.
Straight Arrow News
Terry Moran is speaking out about his exit from ABC News – and defending the comments that led to his ouster.
After ABC cut ties with Moran over a social media post about President Donald Trump and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the journalist doubled down on his comments in an interview on Substack.
During a conversation with The Bulwark writer Tim Miller, Moran, a former senior national correspondent for ABC News, said of his post, "I wrote it because I thought it was true."
In his original X post on June 8, Moran described Stephen Miller as "a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred" and said that his "hatreds are his spiritual nourishment." The post also said that Trump, whom Moran interviewed earlier this year, is a "world-class hater" whose hatred is "a means to an end, and that end his his (sic) own glorification."
The post drew heavy criticism from the White House and led ABC to suspend Moran. An ABC News spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY on June 8, "ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others. 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."
ABC subsequently said it would not renew its agreement with Moran based on his post, which was a "clear violation of ABC News policies."
In his Substack conservation, Moran said he used "very strong language deliberately" and accused Miller of "spitting venom and lies," adding that it's "very disturbing to me" that he has been "degrading our public discourse" and using his power "to grind us down in that bile."
Moran, who joined ABC News in 1997, also argued that as a journalist, "Your job is not to be objective." Instead, "What you have to be is fair and accurate," he said, and he argued that his controversial post was "accurate and true."
ABC News cuts ties with Terry Moran over Stephen Miller social media post
Moran also clarified that his post "wasn't a drunk tweet," despite being shared after midnight. He said he had been "thinking about the country" throughout that day and decided to make his post after getting into bed that evening. "I typed it out and I looked at it, and I thought, 'That's true,'" Moran recalled. "And I hit send."
Fired ABC anchor Terry Moran, axed for slamming Trump, reveals next move
Moran, who said he is "not that liberal" and is a "Hubert Humphrey Democrat," argued that to describe Miller "accurately," he "needed" to use the language he used. He said that it's his "observation, which is what reporters do," that Miller is "a danger."
Moran announced he would launch his own Substack shortly after his exit from ABC. In a video shared on June 11, he said he "can't wait to get at it" and do "the important work that we all have to do in this time of such trouble for our country."
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