News Anchor Fired After Sharing Message To Trump-haters

Should his private opinions affect this professional work?

Local Biloxi news anchor David “Dave” Elliott has reported he was fired after speaking about politics on social media in his free time. 

Elliot worked for South Mississippi-based news station WLOX for nearly 4 decades and, according to the Biloxi Sun Herald, once joked that he planned to die of old age in his anchor chair. As of Friday, however, the anchor appeared to be out of a job. 

“I’m no longer at Wlox as of 10-25-24. The corporation doesn’t like my political views,” Elliot wrote on Facebook. 

The news anchor had recently posted a video where he suggested people shouldn’t vote if they are just doing so out of hatred for former President Trump.

“This is so unlike me because I’m usually a ‘vote, vote, vote!’ guy. I’d like to see 100% voter turnout, whether it’s for your local sheriff or President of the United States, but if your hatred for Donald Trump is so strong — that’s kind of a sickness, by the way — but if it’s so strong that you’re planning to go in that voting booth and vote for Kamala Harris, do you listen to her? Do you know anything about her?” he asked in a video he posted to X Wednesday. “Anyway, do yourself, do the country, do the world a favor and just sit it out. Stay home, don’t vote. This has been a public service announcement.”

Elliott told the Sun Herald that general manager Rick Williams told him he was fired and that “X was brought up in the conversation, which lasted only about 30 seconds, because I left, I was like, ‘OK, see ya.”

Elliott also told the Sun Herald that his social media videos are satire, arguing that there is a distinction between his paid work for the news station versus his social media posts.

“I don’t consider social media journalism,” he said. “Social media is a toy. I have fun. I play. I look at it as satire.” 

“I get paid for doing television,” he said.