What happened
ABC News Sunday suspended longtime correspondent Terry Moran over a deleted late-night social media post in which he called White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller a "world-class hater" who is "richly endowed with the capacity for hatred" and whose "hatreds are his spiritual nourishment."
Who said what
The "interesting" thing about Miller isn't that he's the "brains behind Trumpism" but rather his "bile," Moran said in his post. "He eats his hate," unlike President Donald Trump, whose "hatred is only a means to an end." Miller is the "subject of frequent and ferocious criticism" for designing Trump's immigration policies, CNN said, but it's "highly unusual for a network correspondent like Moran to publish such a politically charged" critique.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on FOX News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that she hoped Moran would "either be suspended or terminated" for his "unacceptable and unhinged" post, and ABC had "said they will be taking action." About an hour later, ABC News said Moran had "violated our standards" on neutrality in reporting and "has been suspended pending further evaluation." Moran, who has been with the network since 1997, interviewed Trump in April.
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What next?
Executives at "major media outlets are reportedly instructing their newsrooms to temper their coverage" of Trump "amid growing fears of political retribution," Axios said. ABC's December agreement to pay Trump $16 million to settle an unusual defamation lawsuit "was viewed as a remarkable concession to a politician by a broadcast network," The New York Times said. CBS News' parent company is weighing a similar settlement.
