Anti-Trump anchor Jim Acosta was left off CNN’s new weekday programming lineup when it was announced on Thursday.
Acosta’s 10 a.m. ET program was replaced with “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown,” in the network’s latest reshuffling. CNN has moved around its hosts and anchors several times over the past few years, but the latest shakeup seems to leave Acosta in limbo.
“We are in active discussions with Jim about a new time slot and will have more information to share soon,” a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Other shifts include Jake Tapper being moved to a two-hour slot from 5 to 7 p.m. ET, while CNN’s primetime lineup of Anderson Cooper, Kaitlan Collins and Abby Phillip is unchanged from 8-11 p.m. ET.
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It was first reported in the Status newsletter last week that Acosta was pitched by CNN CEO Mark Thompson to move him from his one-hour slot at 10 a.m. ET to a two-hour slot beginning at midnight, a far less distinguished place in the lineup.
Acosta became more widely known as CNN’s chief White House correspondent for his antagonistic relationship with President Donald Trump and his spokespersons during Trump’s first term. After the 2020 election, Acosta’s status at CNN was shifted to chief domestic correspondent, anchoring a show on the weekends but eventually moving his way to weekday programming.
While CNN’s past leadership reveled in Acosta’s constant sparring matches with the first Trump administration, the network’s current leadership appears to be trying to appear more neutral for the second go-around.
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One staffer believes Acosta is “getting hosed” by the network.
“Acosta is a talented broadcaster who could handle any slot on the network,” a CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. “The midnight thing is shocking [but] it is what it is.”
The lineup changes were announced the same day CNN announced roughly 6% of the network’s workforce would be laid off.
The Los Angeles Times reported that if Acosta refuses to accept the midnight shift, “he may exit the network,” according to figures familiar with his thinking.
The Times also reported that taking the midnight shift could move Acosta out of CNN’s D.C. headquarters and into the network’s Los Angeles bureau, though the move would not be a requirement as his family is rooted in Washington.
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Acosta first joined CNN in 2007, where he covered political campaigns and eventually the Obama and Trump White Houses. He quickly became notorious for shouting questions at Trump’s White House press secretaries and frequently going toe-to-toe with the president himself, developing a reputation for grandstanding and receiving a profile boost by Trump after being called “fake news.”
Acosta famously refused to give up the microphone in a 2018 press conference as he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with Trump. The White House attempted to revoke Acosta’s press pass following the dust-up, but his credentials were restored when CNN argued that it violated the First and Fifth Amendment rights of Acosta and the network.
Acosta’s adversarial relationship with the first Trump administration appeared to be lucrative as he landed himself a book deal and became a frequent guest on liberal late-night shows, further fueling the star power that landed him an anchor chair during the Biden presidency. He recently told viewers the press is “not the enemy of the people” in a shot at Trump.
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