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CNN
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Veteran Fox News host Neil Cavuto, one of the network’s longest-serving anchors and a frequent target of President-elect Donald Trump, is leaving the network after nearly three decades on the air.

Cavuto made the announcement Thursday on his afternoon show “Your World,” saying he had planned to quit “for some time” but that he would “not give up journalism.” I’ll just get out of here.”

“I have to do what I love to do: report the news. Don’t shout the news, don’t announce the news. Don’t name names, just call balls and strikes, follow the news, stay true to power and be fair to everyone. That’s it, that’s me,” Cavuto said.

Cavuto started as an anchor at Fox News when it launched in 1996, moving from CNBC to the upstart right-wing network founded by Rupert Murdoch. When he left, he was hosting about 12 hours a week on the Fox Business and Fox News channels.

Cavuto said he had been offered “a very generous opportunity to stay for years to come.” According to a person familiar with the matter, Cavuto was offered a contract extension, albeit at a lower salary, and he declined.

In recent years, the folksy Cavuto has emerged as one of the few remaining Fox News hosts willing to vigorously vet and even criticize Trump. Since he was essentially a business news anchor, he saw it as his job to separate fact from fiction, especially when financial decisions were at stake.

But Cavuto’s emphasis on the truth — as opposed to what the Trump base wanted to be true — cost him viewers. Some Trump fans never forgave him after he grilled then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany at a 2020 news conference because McEnany repeated baseless claims of voter fraud.

Trump channeled the feelings of some Fox viewers and celebrated Cavuto’s departure on Thursday.

“GOOD NEWS FOR AMERICA! Neil Cavuto, by far the worst-rated host on Fox, is leaving – this should have happened a long time ago!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

But many others praised Cavuto, especially in his final broadcast.

“I’ve always appreciated you, you call balls and shots, you’re not a ‘yes man,’ it’s an honor to be there,” said Bob Cusack, editor in chief of The Hill.

“Bravo Neil Cavuto on three great decades at Fox News. “Actually fair and balanced, Neil never made a mistake,” wrote former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera on but never after.”

Cavuto also thanked Fox for standing by him despite his numerous health problems, including multiple sclerosis, open-heart surgery and weeks in the hospital with a severe case of Covid-19.