Jon Stewart did not mince his words while addressing ABC’s firing of Terry Moran on Thursday’s episode of his “The Weekly Show” podcast.
Asked if he agreed with ABC’s decision to fire Moran after the correspondent called Trump and his White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “world-class” haters, “The Daily Show” host did not hold back.
“Of course not,” Stewart said. “So stupid. No, for God’s sake.”
He added: “Literally every day on Fox News they’re taking stuff out of context or their people are saying utterly vicious things about democratic politicians. The entire thing is because ABC clings to this facade that they somehow exist in a bubble outside all of this.”
Stewart wrapped up his thoughts on the network’s choice succinctly, “It’s a joke. They’re a f–king joke.”
Late Saturday night, Moran posted on X in a since-deleted pair of tweets that Miller and Trump were “world-class” haters “dripping with hatred.”
“The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism,” he wrote in the first missive. “Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy. But that’s not what’s interesting about Miller. It’s not brains. It’s bile. Miler is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater.”
After ABC News suspended him on Sunday, the network released a statement Tuesday sharing that they had permanently cut ties with the longtime correspondent and journalist.
“We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew,” a spokesperson told TheWrap of their contract with the journalist. “At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism.”
Moran, however, plans to continue his work. He announced Wednesday that he launched a Substack to cover “this time of such trouble for our country.”
“For almost 28 years, I was a reporter and anchor for ABC news. And as you may have heard, I’m not there anymore. I’m here with you on Substack, this amazing space, and I can’t wait to get at it, to get at the important work that we all have to do in this time of such trouble for our country,” Moran said in in a video posted Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m going to be reporting and interviewing and just sharing with you and hoping to hear from you as well, so it’ll be a few days, maybe a little bit longer. Gotta get some stuff sorted out but can’t wait to see,” he concluded.
