ABC News terminated its contract with veteran correspondent Terry Moran on Tuesday, June 10, following his controversial social media post about President Donald Trump and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The network decided not to renew Moran’s agreement, which was set to expire on Friday, June 13, after determining his post violated company policies regarding objectivity and professionalism.
The 65-year-old journalist, who had worked at ABC News for 28 years, found himself in hot water after posting a lengthy criticism of Miller and Trump on X early Sunday morning, June 8. The post, which was quickly deleted, described Miller as a man richly endowed with the capacity for hatred and characterized both officials as world-class haters.
In his deleted post, Moran wrote that Miller’s defining characteristic was not his intellect but his bile. He stated that Miller’s hatreds served as his spiritual nourishment and that he consumed his hate. The correspondent contrasted this with Trump, writing that while the president was also a world-class hater, his hatred served only as a means to achieve his own glorification, which provided Trump’s spiritual nourishment.
The post drew immediate condemnation from Trump administration officials. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the post as unhinged and unacceptable, while Vice President JD Vance characterized Moran’s comments as an absolutely vile smear of Miller. Vance also suggested that ABC should apologize to Miller for what he termed disgraceful content.
ABC News suspended Moran on Sunday, the same day as his social media post, stating that his comments violated the network’s standards and did not reflect ABC News’ views. The network emphasized its commitment to maintaining the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism among its reporters. An ABC spokesperson indicated that the organization remained committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism.
The timing of Moran’s post proved particularly problematic for his career, as his contract with the network was already scheduled to expire within days. According to sources familiar with the situation, prominent television correspondents like Moran typically maintain multi-year contracts with their employers, making the contract’s imminent expiration a factor that facilitated ABC’s swift action.
An ABC News insider told Fox News that the network had no alternative but to terminate Moran’s employment. The staff member described the situation as unfortunate, noting that Moran was beloved by colleagues and characterized him as a good person and family man. However, the insider acknowledged that failing to address the post promptly could have cost ABC viewership, particularly given industry-wide issues regarding public trust in legacy media. “We f—ing took it seriously and dealt with it pretty g–d— quickly,” the network staffer said.
Moran’s departure comes at a sensitive time for ABC News, which agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library in December to settle a defamation lawsuit. The settlement resolved claims related to allegedly defamatory comments made by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos about Trump in connection with a civil trial where Trump was found liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.
Throughout his tenure at ABC, Moran served as a longtime co-anchor of Nightline and covered eight presidential campaign cycles. He worked as the network’s chief foreign correspondent and later became senior national correspondent, leading coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court and national politics. His role included conducting high-profile interviews, including a one-on-one conversation with Trump in late April about the president’s first 100 days in office.
The interview with Trump, broadcast in prime time weeks before Moran’s controversial post, featured contentious exchanges about deportations. During that interview, Trump told Moran that he was not being very nice amid their discussion. The timing of this recent interaction with Trump made Moran’s subsequent social media criticism particularly noteworthy for ABC executives.
Miller responded to Moran’s original post on X, stating that privileged anchors and reporters had been adopting journalist poses while serving as radicals for decades. He suggested that Moran had pulled off his mask with the controversial post. White House communications director Steven Cheung celebrated news of Moran’s departure by posting on X with vulgar language, referencing Trump’s recent slogan about protests in Los Angeles.
The incident highlights ongoing tensions between news organizations and the Trump administration regarding coverage and commentary standards. Reactions to Moran’s suspension and subsequent termination largely split along partisan lines, with pro-Trump commentators supporting ABC’s decision while critics argued that Moran was being punished for speaking the truth about political figures.
