CNN anchor Jim Acosta, an irritant to President Donald Trump as a former White Home correspondent, says he is quitting the community quite than settle for a proposal for a brand new late-night time slot.
Acosta introduced his departure Tuesday on the finish of his one-hour morning present on the community, telling viewers: “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear.”
He did not particularly tie these sentiments to Trump, however the implication was clear. CNN says its choice to maneuver Acosta out of the daylight and right into a time slot to start at midnight Jap time had nothing to do with politics.
Lower than a half hour earlier than Acosta’s announcement, Trump posted on social media that rumors that the anchor was leaving had been excellent news. “Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up,” Trump mentioned on Reality Social.
CNN introduced final week — Trump’s first week again in workplace — that it was shuffling its daytime lineup to maneuver Wolf Blitzer into Acosta’s 10 a.m. Jap time slot, paired with Pamela Brown. The community mentioned it had supplied Acosta a job at midnight and would transfer him to Los Angeles, the place his present would air at 9 p.m., and in addition simulcast this system on CNN Worldwide.
However Acosta, who has been at CNN for 18 years, mentioned Tuesday he had turned that down.
Reflecting on his profession
He mentioned individuals usually ask him if protecting Trump’s first time period as president was the spotlight of his CNN profession. As a substitute, he mentioned it was the prospect to cowl former President Barack Obama’s journey to Cuba in 2016 and ask Cuban chief Raul Castro a query about political prisoners.
“As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home the lesson (that) it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant,” Acosta mentioned. “I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account. I’ve always tried to do that at CNN and plan to go on doing it in the future.”
He mentioned his last message was “don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth. And to hope.”
CNN, in an announcement, mentioned “Jim has had a long, distinguished, nearly 20-year career at CNN, with a track record of standing up to authority, for the First Amendment and our journalistic freedoms. We want to thank him for the dedication and commitment he’s brought to his reporting and wish him the very best in in the future.”
Trump’s bitter relationship with Acosta throughout his first time period culminated with the White Home briefly suspending Acosta’s press go in 2018. Acosta had tried to proceed questioning Trump after the president mentioned “that’s enough!” at a information convention and an aide tried to remove Acosta’s microphone.
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David Bauder writes in regards to the intersection of media and leisure for the AP. Comply with him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.socia l.
