Trump Celebrates Retirement of CEO of AT&T, ‘Which Owns and Presides Over Fake News CNN’

Today, it was announced that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will retire. In a move that will take place several months before most expected, President and COO John Stankey will take over the position on July 1. The 60-year-old Stephenson said in February that he would remain CEO for the rest of the year, though he refused to project beyond that date.

President Trump applauded the news, pointing out that AT&T “owns and presides over Fake News CNN” and with the way it happened, he must have been “forced out.” He hoped that Stankey “will be much better.”

Great News! Randall Stephenson, the CEO of heavily indebted AT&T, which owns and presides over Fake News CNN, is leaving, or was forced out. Anyone who lets a garbage “network” do and say the things that CNN does, should leave ASAP. Hopefully replacement will be much better!

Great News! Randall Stephenson, the CEO of heavily indebted AT&T, which owns and presides over Fake News @CNN, is leaving, or was forced out. Anyone who lets a garbage “network” do and say the things that CNN does, should leave ASAP. Hopefully replacement will be much better!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2020

The President mentioned that the company is “heavily indebted” and indeed, AT&T’s heavy spending on acquisitions of DirecTV and Time Warner have landed it into about $200 billion in debt.

Elliott Management criticized the moves when it took a $3.2 billion stake in the company last year. The activist investment firm that pushed for executive changes at AT&T said it “supports” Stankey as the company’s next CEO.

Stephenson had appeared in a 2018 interview and said that he would have fired Rosanne Barr too after her tweet. He called the decision a “no-brainer.”