Jim Acosta, who led CNN’s resistance against President Donald Trump during his first term, is reportedly set to rage-quit his job after facing a significant demotion that pulled his own show out from underneath his feet.
Acosta was the victim of a serious shake-up by CEO Mark Thompson, who terminated Acosta’s weekday 10 a.m. program “CNN Newsroom” after 17 months on the air. Instead, the CNN veteran will be relegated to the “Siberia” of cable news and given a midnight show, effectively shutting him out of the ratings game and putting his once-vaunted career on ice.
Taking his place will be a new show co-anchored by Pamela Brown, 39, and Wolf Blitzer, the longtime anchor who also lost his standalone show as Thompson makes moves to put his legacy league of extraordinary gentlemen out to pasture.
Rather than accept his new assignment, Acosta may “exit the network, according to people familiar with his thinking,” the Daily Mail reports. Other sources say that the former White House correspondent is “getting hosed” within the network over his “shocking” demotion. One insider admitted Acosta’s “only path forward” at CNN would be to acquiesce and accept the midnight-to-2 a.m. time slot.
Acosta’s short stick comes at a time when Thompson is overhauling the network’s coverage in the second era of President Donald Trump. One day before the Republican was inaugurated, Thompson reportedly held an editorial call with top on-air talent where he warned Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, and others about the dangers of “pre-judging Trump” based on past words, actions, or criminal matters.
Thompson is believed to be among a long list of network executives worried about how CNN’s relationship could be maintained with the White House if Acosta kept his 10 a.m. time slot. He famously sparred so hard with the first Trump administration that he saw his press pass pulled before CNN successfully sued to get it back.
Adding inconvenience to insult, Acosta would have to perform his midnight duties at the network’s Los Angeles base, far from the Washington, D.C. bureau, which has been called home for years.
Thompson is also “apoplectic” that the details of his private call with network talent were leaked, sources say, while others are just as furious with the cable news honcho for bending the knee to Trump over the past year. Last year, Kaitlan Collins moderated a Trump town hall that drew a healthy number of viewers but drew plenty of grumbling within CNN by reporters who said Thompson was breathing new life into falsehoods by Trump.
The live TV clashes between Acosta and Trump are legendary moments that highlight the 47th president’s disdain for the mainstream media. During one heated press briefing, Trump said CNN should be “ashamed” for hiring Acosta.
The journalist then fired back at him, “Mr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes.”
“Let me tell you about your record, your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Trump shot back. “You have the worst record in the history of broadcasting.”
On another occasion, Acosta accused Trump of “concocting a national emergency” to secure funding for a border wall.
“Your question is a very political question because you have an agenda. You’re CNN. You’re fake news,” Trump replied.
