ABC suspends correspondent for calling Stephen Miller a "world-class hater"
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ABC News' Terry Moran (L). Photo: Heidi Gutman/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
ABC News Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran was suspended after he characterized top Trump aide Stephen Miller as "richly endowed with the capacity for hatred" in a since-deleted post, the network confirmed to Axios Sunday.
The big picture: The incident is ammunition for the administration's attacks on and distrust of traditional media.
- The Trump administration has squeezed legacy media from several angles in its first few months, prompting legal battles over funding and First Amendment rights.
Driving the news: An ABC News spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Axios that Moran "has been suspended pending further evaluation."
- "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," the statement read.
Catch up quick: Moran, who in April conducted an at-times testy interview with President Trump marking his first 100 days in office, posted to X at 12:06 a.m. ET Sunday. He called both Miller, who is White House deputy chief of staff for policy, and the president "world-class" haters.
- "The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism," Moran's post started, according to a screenshot. He continued, saying that Miller's ability to translate Trump-world impulses into policy is not "what's interesting."
- "It's not brains. It's bile," he said. "Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world-class hater."
- Moran contended Miller's "hatreds are his spiritual nourishment."
What he's saying: Miller, responding to Moran's post, argued that "[f]or decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist's pose."
- Miller has been a driving force behind the president's controversial immigration crackdown and is one of his most-trusted aides.
Zoom out: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Moran's rhetoric as "unacceptable and unhinged" on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," saying ABC confirmed it would be taking action.
- "I think this speaks to the distrust that the American public have in the legacy media," she added.
- Vice President JD Vance, in a Sunday X post, described Moran's tweet as a "vile smear."
