Terry Moran, Out at ABC News Over Trump ‘Hate’ Tweets, Forgets Rules as Old as America

An ABC News correspondent, Terry Moran, is looking for work after his tweet tearing into President Trump and his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. Mr. Moran’s fall is being met with glee on the right and anger on the left, and is a reminder of lessons that long predate social media.Early Sunday morning, Mr. Moran called Mr. Miller “a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred,” and alleged that one can see this “just by looking at him. … His hatreds are his spiritual nourishment.”Mr. Miller “eats his hate,” Mr. Moran said. He went on to call Mr. Trump and his deputy “world-class haters,” with the distinction that the president’s “hatred” is “only a means to an end, and that end” is “his own glorification. That’s his spiritual nourishment.”Mr. Moran later deleted the tweet, but it survived just as if he’d voiced it. “Words spoken cannot be recalled,” a 19th-century novelist, Anthony Trollope, wrote, “and many a man and many a woman who has spoken a word at once regretted, are far too proud to express that regret.”The White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, on May 9, 2025. AP/Mark SchiefelbeinRegardless of whether Mr. Moran has regrets, ABC suspended him just hours after he hit “post.” On Tuesday, the network said it wouldn’t be renewing his expiring contract, telling CNN that it “does not condone subjective personal attacks.”Mr. Moran might have thought himself shielded, having phrased his remarks as sophisticated commentary as he’s done throughout his career. In January 2016, he alleged that the GOP had “for a long time … prized rudeness” and that Mr. Trump had manifested that malice.Ten years ago, no insults, innuendo, or outlandish charges leveled at Mr. Trump — however vitriolic — seemed to result in blowback. After two attempted assassinations and a comeback that saw him win the popular vote, as well as the electoral vote, the political world has changed. So has what the press will tolerate.In December, ABC News paid a $15 million settlement to Mr. Trump. One of the network’s anchors, George Stephanopoulos, had stated 10 times in a March 2024 interview that the president had been found “liable for rape.” That was untrue, and the president sued. E. Jean Carroll leaves the courthouse on September 6, 2024, at New York City. She and President Trump had both appeared in court that day as Trump’s lawyers fought to overturn the jury’s finding that he sexually abused her. Alex Kent/Getty ImagesMr. Trump was found liable for “sexual abuse,” which is not, under New York law, the same thing as rape. Exaggerating might have served Mr. Stephanopoulos well in his days as a campaign operative for President Clinton, but he is now a journalist and ABC News expressed its “regret” for his assertions. Social media brings the temptation to vent to the whole world, and it takes only seconds. Yet “act in haste, repent at leisure” holds true in any era, including that of the sharp-tongued Founder, Benjamin Franklin, a newspaperman himself. Franklin once wrote in anger to a friend in the British parliament; then he stuck the parchment in a drawer, as was his habit, and waited for his passions to cool. He reread the letter later and decided not to send it.Another pithy newsman, Mark Twain, and President Lincoln both employed Franklin’s tactic. If they’d had access to social media, we can imagine that they’d exercise the same restraint, aware that X’s “delete” option has limited effect.Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart. Via Wikimedia CommonsAs a young man, President Washington set out to master his temper as well, copying down a series of 16th-century “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior.” They were the blueprint for building the “indispensable man” in war and peace. “Every action done in company,” Washington’s first rule read, “ought to be with some sign of respect.” Rule 49 says to “use no reproachful language against anyone.” Rule 65 advises to “speak not injurious words” at others “although they give occasion.”No one needs to tell us not to injure people we like. Washington committed to his rules to avoid hasty, self-destructive reactions to those who got under his skin, as Messrs. Trump and Miller did to Mr. Moran. With so many press outlets operating, Mr. Moran will find a new job. He may never have to swallow his pride and express regret. Yet to avoid another failure, he might want to commit to obeying at least Rule 79 on Washington’s list: “Think before you speak.”

Terry Moran, Out at ABC News Over Trump ‘Hate’ Tweets, Forgets Rules as Old as America

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