ABC News has suspended senior correspondent Terry Moran after the Trump administration complained about Moran calling Stephen Miller a “world-class hater.”
In a since-deleted post to X, Moran made the case that the White House deputy chief of staff is the engine of President Donald Trump‘s more stomach-churning actions, providing the animus that drives Trump’s second term.
“The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism,” Moran wrote on Saturday. “That’s not what’s interesting about Miller. 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 went on to say that Miller’s hatred can be seen “just by looking at him.”
“His hatreds are his spiritual nourishment,” Moran wrote. “He eats his hate.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called for Moran to be suspended on social media and during stops on Sunday talk shows. ABC quickly bowed to the Trump administration’s wishes, saying Moran violated the network’s standards and has been suspended.
“ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others,” they shared in a statement. “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.”
It’s not the first time the network has rolled over under pressure from Trump. The network settled a defamation lawsuit with the president earlier this year, handing over $15 million to the man with the highest “actual malice” threshold imaginable.
That case was brought after anchor George Stephanopoulos said Trump had been found “liable for rape” in the cases of E. Jean Carroll. Even though the judge in the case found that there is no difference in everyday speech between the sexual abuse Trump was found liable for and rape, ABC backed down with an offer of a settlement and an apology.
