CNN's Jim Acosta, an irritant to Trump, says he's quitting rather than take a late-night time slot

CNN's Jim Acosta speaks to journalists on the North Lawn upon returning back to the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

CNN anchor Jim Acosta, an irritant to President Donald Trump as a former White House correspondent, says he’s quitting the network rather than accept an offer for a new late-night time slot.

Acosta announced his departure Tuesday at the end of his one-hour morning show on the network, telling viewers: “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear.”

He didn’t specifically tie those sentiments to Trump, but the implication was clear. 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.

Less than a half hour before Acosta’s announcement, Trump posted on social media that rumors that the anchor was leaving were good news. “Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up,” Trump said on Truth Social.

CNN announced last week — Trump’s first week back in office — 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.

But Acosta, who has been at CNN for 18 years, said Tuesday he had turned that down.

Reflecting on his career

He said 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 in the future.”

Trump’s sour relationship with Acosta during his first time 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.