Shepard Smith, one of the true journalists at Fox News, suddenly and without warning, announced today’s newscast would be his last (watch above). He said it was his decision, but it’s hard to imagine Donald Trump didn’t play a part in this. Smith was one of the few anchors at Fox who would fact check the president. And Trump would often scold him for it. Just yesterday Trump tweeted “Shep Smith, @donnabrazile (who gave Crooked Hillary the debate questions & got fired from @CNN), & others, @FoxNews doesn’t deliver for US anymore.” Perhaps that tweet helped Smith craft this part of his goodbye message:
“Even in our current polarized nation, it’s my hope that the facts will win the day. That the truth will always matter. That journalism and journalists will thrive.”
The announcement left Neil Cavuto, the anchor who follows Smith’s show clearly rattled.
"Woah."@TeamCavuto was left speechless after finding out, when everyone did, that Shepard Smith is leaving Fox and today was his last day.https://t.co/lNNbTJJo1p pic.twitter.com/vChWWrcApd
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 11, 2019
This comes two days after Attorney General Bill Barr met with Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch. And just a short time after Smith clashed with Tucker Carlson.
As suspected: Tensions with Fox's opinion shows was the breaking point for Shep Smith, a well-placed source confirms to me.https://t.co/eto316RHF3
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 11, 2019
Meanwhile, a non-compete means Smith won’t be anchoring anywhere else yet. No word on how long has to sit it out.