Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta capped his nearly two decades at the network on Tuesday by reminding viewers to "hold on to the truth" and to not bow down to a "tyrant"—which many saw as a pointed criticism of President Donald Trump, whom Acosta's coverage has irritated more than once.
Acosta announced his departure on Tuesday at the conclusion of his one-hour morning show, urging viewers:
“Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear.”
While he didn’t explicitly connect these remarks to Trump, the implication was evident. CNN stated that its decision to move Acosta from daytime to a midnight Eastern time slot was unrelated to politics.
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Last week, CNN announced a daytime lineup shuffle, replacing Acosta’s 10 a.m. Eastern time slot with Wolf Blitzer, paired with Pamela Brown. The network also offered Acosta a role in Los Angeles, hosting a show at 9 p.m. Pacific time (midnight Eastern) that would simulcast on CNN International.
Acosta, who has been with CNN for 18 years, revealed on Tuesday that he declined the offer and gave these parting words:
"I just wanted to end this show by thanking all of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes at this network. They have seen some reports about me and this show and after giving this careful consideration and weighing alternative time slots, I've decided to move on."
"I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I've spent here doing the news. People ask me if the highlight of my career was being at the White House covering Donald Trump, but no. That moment came when I covered former President Barack Obama's trip to Cuba in 2016 and had a chance to quesion the dictator there, RaĂşl Castro about the island's political prisoners."
"As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson: it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I've always believed it's the duty of the press to hold power to account. I always planned on doing that with CNN and I plan on doing that in the future."
He added:
"One final message: Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and hope even if you have to get out your phone and record that message: "I will not give in to the lies. I will not give into the fear." Post it on your social media so people can hear from you too."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Many appreciated Acosta's remarks.
In a statement, CNN acknowledged Acosta's lengthy tenure, saying that “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."
Although Acosta did not specifically refer to Trump, Trump was undoubtedly on Acosta's mind given their contentious history.
In 2018, the Trump White House suspended Acosta's press pass after he and Trump clashed at a news conference. The confrontation began when Acosta questioned Trump about the caravan of migrants traveling from Latin America to the U.S. southern border.
As Acosta attempted to ask a follow-up question, Trump cut him off, saying, “That’s enough!” A female White House aide then tried unsuccessfully to take the microphone from Acosta.
Following the exchange, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern,” calling his actions “absolutely unacceptable."
Acosta later said that Sanders’ statement that he put his hands on the aide was “a lie," and CNN backed him up, saying Acosta was the victim of “retaliation for his challenging questions."
Not surprisingly, after Acosta's announcement, Trump posted on Truth Social celebrating his departure, to which Acosta fired back:
