CNN anchor and renowned journalist Jim Acosta announced on Tuesday during his LIVE show that he’s parting ways with the network where he worked since 2007. Acosta was associated with CNN for nearly 18 years but rose to fame during the years when he served as CNN’s chief White House correspondent during the Obama and Trump administrations. He is particularly known for his verbal spats with President Trump at press briefings, with the former firing hard-hitting questions and the latter terming him and his network as “fake news”. In January 2021, Acosta was appointed anchor and chief domestic correspondent for CNN. The star anchor made the announcement at the end of his 10 a.m. show, which will be his last for CNN. He is stepping down after clashing with the network over a decision to move his show to the midnight hour, a time slot that is often referred to as a “cable news backwater,” according to two people familiar with the discussions, The New York Times reported.
CNN announced last week that it was shuffling its daytime lineup to move Wolf Blitzer into Acosta’s 10 a.m. Eastern time slot, paired with Pamela Brown. The network said it had offered Acosta a job at midnight and would move him to Los Angeles, where his show would air at 9 p.m., and also simulcast the program on CNN International.
Acosta reportedly chose to quit the network rather than accept an offer for a new late-night time slot. CNN says its decision to move Acosta out of the daylight and into a time slot to begin at midnight Eastern time had nothing to do with politics. However, less than a half hour before Acosta’s announcement, Trump posted on social media that rumors that the anchor was leaving were good news.
“Wow, really good news! Jim Acosta, one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history, a major sleazebag, has been relegated by CNN Fake News to the Midnight hour, “Death Valley,” because of extraordinarily bad ratings (and no talent!). Word is that he wants to quit, and that would be even better. Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up. Good luck Jim,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Acosta, while delivering his last word on CNN as a host said that people often ask him if covering Trump’s first term as president was the highlight of his CNN career. Instead, he said it was the chance to cover former President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba in 2016 and ask Cuban leader Raul Castro a question 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 said. “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 said his final 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 a statement, said “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 the future.”
Trump’s relationship with Acosta soured during his first term which culminated with the White House briefly suspending Acosta’s press pass in 2018. Acosta had tried to continue questioning Trump after the president said “that’s enough!” at a news conference and an aide tried to take away Acosta’s microphone.
At several other press meets, Trump had labelled Jim Acosta and CNN as fake news.
Acosta has always been at loggerheads with Trump including one instance when he rebuked the US President in Defense of Free Press saying, the press is “not the enemy of the people… we are defenders of the people.”
As of 2024, Acosta was paid around $700,000 a year, according to the US Sun. His radio career and the popularity of his 2019 New York Times best-selling book, The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America, have contributed to his projected $4 million net worth.
