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In an unexpected on-air statement at the end of
his daily "Shepard Smith Reporting" show, Smith said he had
asked to leave the conservative-leaning cable news network,
which is the most-watched in the United States.
His farewell message ended with the hope that "the truth will
always matter."
"Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News.
After requesting that I stay, they obliged. Under our agreement
I won't be reporting elsewhere, at least in the near future,"
Smith said.
"Even in our currently polarized nation, it's my hope that the
facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter, that
journalism and journalists will survive," Smith said.
Smith, who was also managing editor of the network's breaking
news unit, has been one of the few senior journalists on Fox
News to criticize Trump.
His departure follows attacks by Trump on the network's less
friendly coverage of his administration since the U.S. House of
Representatives began an impeachment inquiry, which opinion
polls suggest has growing support from Americans.
The New York Times reported earlier on Friday that U.S. Attorney
General William Barr met this week with Rupert Murdoch, whose
Fox Corp owns Fox News.
"FoxNews doesn’t deliver for US anymore. It is so different than
it used to be. Oh well, I’m President!," Trump tweeted on
Thursday.
In March, Smith took issue with Trump's criticism of the late
Republican Senator John McCain, and in August Smith spoke out
about the "unmistakable rise of white nationalism and white
racism in America" which Democrats say Trump has not done enough
to discourage.
In September, Smith called out Trump for his mistaken insistence
that the state of Alabama was in the path of Hurricane Dorian.
Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the U.S. media as "the
enemy of the people," has lashed out publicly against Shepard.
"Watching Fake News CNN is better than watching Shepard Smith,
the lowest rated show on @FoxNews," Trump tweeted in August.
Smith has been with Fox News since it was launched in 1996 and
his departure took colleagues by surprise.
"Shepard Smith just dropped a bomb ... He was part of the glue
that held Fox together. He is a supreme pro who made us all
better," Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts
tweeted on Friday.
Fox News President Jay Wallace in a statement called Smith "one
of the premier newscasters of his generation."
"While this day is especially difficult as his former producer,
we respect his decision and are deeply grateful for his immense
contributions to the entire network,” Wallace said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Tom
Brown)
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