CNN's Jim Acosta is quitting rather than do a late-night show

Jim Acosta, a CNN anchor and former White House correspondent who has been a source of irritation to President Donald Trump, has announced his resignation from the network in lieu of accepting an offer for a new late-night time slot, as Breitbart News reported.

At the conclusion of his one-hour morning program on Tuesday, Acosta disclosed his departure, instructing viewers to “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear.” Don’t give in to the fear.”

He did not explicitly associate those sentiments with Trump; however, the implication was evident.

CNN stated that its decision to relocate Acosta from the daylight to a time window that commences at midnight Eastern time was not related to politics.

Reaction Online

"Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up," Trump said on Truth Social, less than half an hour before Acosta's announcement, implying that the reports of the anchor's departure were good news.

Last week, CNN disclosed that it was restructuring its daytime lineup to accommodate Wolf Blitzer in Acosta's 10 a.m. Eastern time slot, where she would be paired with Pamela Brown, during Trump's inaugural week in office.

The network announced that it had extended an employment offer to Acosta at midnight and would relocate him to Los Angeles. His program would be simulcast on CNN International and broadcast at 9 p.m.

However, Acosta, who has worked by CNN for 18 years, stated on Tuesday that he had declined the offer.

On his Career

He mentioned that a common question people have is whether covering Trump's first term as president was the most memorable part of his time at CNN. He insisted it was an opportunity to interview Cuban leader Raul Castro about political prisoners and cover Obama's 2016 visit to the island.

“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.”