Anchor Jim Acosta Leaves CNN After 18 Years As Network Tries To Move To Center In Trump Era – ‘Don’t Give In To Lies,’ He Warns

Hours after CNN Anchor Jim Acosta signed off for the last time on Jan. 28, he issued a warning to the public, “Don’t give in to the lies.”

A stark critic of Donald Trump, Acosta’s departure comes after he rejected the network’s proposal to move his 10 a.m. ET weekday slot news program to the midnight shift. CNN posed the time switch as an opportunity for Acosta to air prime time on the West Coast and be simulcast on CNN International. However, many critics have speculated that this proposed shift was an attempt by the network to pander to Trump by banishing Acosta to late-night.

Acosta, 53, delivered the announcement on his Tuesday show, saying, You may have heard some reports about me and this show, and after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing in alternative time slots CNN offered me, I have decided to move on.”

“I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account,” he continued. “I’ve always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on going and doing all of that in the future. As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson: It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant…Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth and hope.”

Acosta finished by thanking “all of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes at this network” and his audience. “It has been an honor to be welcomed into your home for all these years…That’s the news,” he said.

In a press release following, Acosta shared, “After two decades of service, I am leaving CNN to start a new chapter, and I won’t pull any punches this time around, either. I owe that to myself and to you.”

He continued, “As I said during my sign-off at the end of my final show on CNN. Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth. Hold on to hope. In the meantime to President Trump and his allies, you may think you have silenced me. But guess again.”

Acosta served as a White House correspondent during the Obama and Trump administrations and famously frequently challenged Trump in press conferences. He was banned from the White House in 2018 after a heated exchange with Trump, after which Acosta sued the government, and a federal judge ruled that his White House press badge must be reinstated.

Tuesday morning, Trump posted on TruthSocial, “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!”