Shepard Smith on Friday abruptly quit
Fox News.
Smith, 55, was the network's only
openly gay anchor.
(Related: Fox
News anchor Shepard Smith comes out gay.)
“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 thrive,”
Smith said in signing off his final newscast.
Smith had been one of the network's few
voices to criticize President Donald Trump.
In recent weeks, the president has
increased his grievances against Fox News.
(Related: Trump
criticizes Fox News' Shep Smith, says his show is worse than CNN.)
“Is he leaving? Oh, that's a shame,”
Trump said. “Is he leaving because he had bad ratings?”
CNN's Brian Stelter said that Smith,
who was earning $15 million, left because “he couldn't take it
anymore.”
“Sources tell me that he was simply
appalled by some of the opinion hosts' comments. He felt that he had
been marginalized. There wasn't room for him anymore,” Stelter
said.
“He presents facts about President
Trump, often times the facts that others leave out,” he added.
(Related: Fox
News' Shepard Smith: I go home to the man I'm in love with.)