ABC suspends Terry Moran after rant on Trump, top advisor
Fox News Rich Edson reports the latest on Morans suspension from the White House. The Fox & Friends co-hosts also weigh in.
ABC News staffers were "shocked" and "disappointed" that correspondent Terry Moran put himself in a situation to get suspended for attacking President Donald Trump and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller in a now-deleted social media post, a network employee told Fox News Digital.
Moran found himself in hot water both inside and outside the Disney-owned network when he called Trump and Miller "world-class" haters early Sunday morning. Moran, who's been with the network since 1997, was suspended after ABC News honchos woke up to the viral backlash.
"Nobody disagrees with the decision [to suspend Moran]. Everybody was shocked, everybody was disappointed… this just sucks," an ABC News staffer told Fox News Digital.
ABC'S TERRY MORAN SUSPENDED AFTER JOURNALIST SLAMS TRUMP, TOP ADVISOR IN SINCE-DELETED POST
Terry Moran and President Donald Trump. (Left: (Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
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 is 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.
"You tweeted something, and you basically hurt all of us. We don’t need this sh-t," they added. "It sucks. It really sucks."
Moran sent the now-deleted tweet shortly after midnight early Sunday morning. By the time that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Moran’s post "unhinged and unacceptable" at 8:20 a.m. ET, it was already clear to network executives that action had to be taken, according to an ABC News source.
The ABC News staffer believes Trump would have gone scorched earth if the network didn’t act quickly.
Last year, ABC News paid $15 million and issued statements of "regret" to settle a defamation suit Trump brought against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos, after he repeatedly said on the air that Trump had been found liable for rape in a civil suit.
ABC NEWS' TERRY MORAN'S HISTORY OF ATTACKING TRUMP DATES BACK TO FIRST TERM IN 2017
President Donald Trump spoke to ABC News correspondent Terry Moran for an Oval Office interview in April. Moran is now suspended for attacking Trump on social media. (Screenshot/ABC)
Moran’s suspension came less than six weeks after he interviewed Trump, during which the president criticized the ABC correspondent for his questioning.
"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."
Moran also pressed Trump on his relationship with Russia's Vladimir Putin during the interview.
"I don’t trust you. I don’t trust a lot of people," Trump responded. "I don’t trust you. Look at you. You’re so happy to do the interview, and then you start hitting me with these fake questions."
In Moran's lengthy post that he deleted, he wrote Miller had "bile" and a high "capacity for hatred," while Trump's "hatred" was a means to his own glorification.
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday, an ABC spokesperson said, "ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others. The [X] post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards — as a result, Terry Moran has been suspended pending further evaluation."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Terry Moran joined ABC News in 1997. (Screenshot/ABC/ThisWeek)
Moran did not respond to a request for comment.
Moran's suspension comes as public trust in the media continues to steadily erode. A Gallup survey last year showed a record-low 31% of Americans expressed at least a "fair amount" of trust in the media to report the news accurately.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.