Fired ABC News Anchor Terry Moran Returns to TV & Sparks Argument Over Trump-Putin

Former Senior National Correspondent at ABC News, Terry Moran, who was fired earlier this year for making posts critical of Donald Trump and his advisor, Stephen Miller, kicked off an argument about US and Russian relations on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Thursday (August 14).

The debate revolved around President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, taking place later today (Friday, August 15) to discuss how to bring an end to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. Phillip and the panel discussed what could be achieved by this meeting, as well as which world leader had the upper hand.

Author and columnist Batya Ungar-Sargon told Phillip that the upcoming meeting is Putin’s “last chance to prove to Trump that he is a logical actor and wants to bring an end [to the conflict],” per Mediaite.

After Phillip replied that the Russian President has been “very clear” about the Ukraine invasion being about his view of the “Russian Empire,” Moran chimed in to agree with the host, sharing his view on the Trump and Putin relationship.

“There’s something about Trump and Putin, from the beginning,” the former ABC Chief Foreign Correspondent said. “I was in Helsinki as well. Trump is an alpha male in every room he walks into until Vladimir Putin is there.”

He continued, “I was there. You could feel it in the room. Now I’m not saying that Putin has anything on him, but I think… there’s no question that he has trouble with this guy.”

Ungar-Sargon interrupted to say, “This sounds like RussiaGate hoax to me. I don’t know.”

However, Phillip backed Moran up, noting, “I don’t think it has anything to do with Russia. It’s more of an interpersonal thing between the two of them and you can’t explain it.”

“It’s an interpersonal thing,” Moran added.

Related

CNN Slammed for Featuring Jillian Michaels After Controversial Slavery Comments

Fellow guest panelist Tiffany Cross, who was let go from MSNBC in 2022, disagreed with Moran’s description of Trump. “I think you can call him an alpha male, depending on your definition of what an alpha male is. He’s not an alpha male to me,” she stated.

“He performs,” Moran explained.

But Cross wasn’t buying it, saying, “[Trump’s] an insecure, very insecure little… person.”

Ahead of Thursday’s show, Moran took to X to promote his appearance, writing, “I’ll be on CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip tonight at 10PM Eastern. It’s a show I’ve admired for a while—how Abby includes voices from both sides of our great divide, and keeps it civil even when sparks fly. Especially then! Check it out!”

You can watch a video of the segment at this link and let us know your thoughts below.