Fired ABC Reporter Terry Moran Says Viral Anti-Trump Post ‘Wasn’t a Drunk Tweet’ ArticlePure

Terry Moran doesn’t regret his scathing tweet.

The former ABC News correspondent spoke to The New York Times in his first interview since the network terminated him. On June 9, Moran penned a personal social media post condemning both Donald Trump and his White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, calling them “world-class hater[s].”

“It wasn’t a drunk tweet,” Moran said with a “lopsided grin,” per NYT.

It was a normal night, Moran told the outlet. He and his dog took a walk, where Moran contemplated the state of American politics. He then returned home, watched Ocean’s Eleven, got his children to sleep and wrote the missive.

The message, which has now been deleted from Moran’s account, called Miller “a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred” whose “hatreds are his spiritual nourishment.” Moran shamed Trump for similar reasons.

“Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred is only a means to an end, and that end his his own glorification [sic]. That’s his spiritual nourishment,” he wrote.

“I was thinking about our country, and what’s happening, and just turning it over in my mind,” Moran said of the message. “I wrote it, and I said, ‘That’s true.’ ”

Moran’s words quickly sparked outrage from the administration. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the message “unhinged and unacceptable,” while Vice President J.D. Vance dubbed it an “absolutely vile smear.”

But veteran journalists were also upset. Many claimed Moran’s words crossed the line of journalistic impartiality, while others suggested the post helped the Trump administration establish the media as biased against it, per NYT.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer??, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

ABC News, Moran’s employer of 28 years, terminated his contract last week, though Moran and his lawyers are still negotiating the terms of his departure. While he navigates a new period of his life and career, including amassing a growing following on Substack, Moran told the outlet the one benefit to this chain of events is that he’s free to speak his mind.

“I don’t think you should ever regret telling the truth,” Moran said. “And I don’t.”