Is John King Leaving CNN? Why Longtime News Anchor Was Replaced on TV Show ‘Inside Politics’ 

A new start. On Thursday, April 27, CNN announced a huge anchor shakeup to their weekday lineup. It was revealed that John King would be stepping back from the show Inside Politics and has been replaced on the program. Scroll below for more details on his fate on the network and who replaced him. 

Is John King Leaving CNN?

John began hosting the revival of Inside Politics in 2014. The show’s initial run aired from 1992 to 2005, with a rotating panel of hosts, including Catherine Crier, Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff. John’s decades of experience on TV as a leading member of the CNN newsroom and covering past presidential elections made him the perfect candidate for the hosting role. 

While CNN’s chief national correspondent is waving farewell to the talk show, he is not leaving CNN. Instead, John will be taking on a new reporting role, focusing heavily on 2024 presidential election coverage, something he has been looking forward to immensely.

“This is my ‘back to the future’ dream assignment,” the reporter said in a statement about his new job. “It is my 10th presidential cycle and, given the stakes, I felt it was time to get back to my roots reporting across the country.”

In recent years, John went public with his battle with multiple sclerosis and how he has been coping with the disease more than 13 years after he was first diagnosed. 

“One of the reasons I’ve been reluctant to talk publicly about this is because I worry, ‘There’s that guy on TV. He has MS. He’s fine. It must not be a big deal,'” the TV reporter told People in November 2021. “MS is viciously cruel to people who get aggressive, progressive multiple sclerosis. It takes them from dancing to a wheelchair, sometimes in a period of months. It’s horrible. It impacts every hour of my life. But I am incredibly lucky because mine is not aggressive, and because I have great doctors and great medical care.”

Who Is Replacing John King on ‘Inside Politics’?

The network announced that Dana Bash will be taking over the hosting role on Inside Politics. The journalist, who was married to John from 2008 to 2012 and shares one son with him, is excited about her new career venture. 

“After nearly 30 years at CNN covering campaigns, Capitol Hill and the White House, I am excited to helm a program devoted to the politics that impact Americans’ lives,” she said in a statement. “John built an extraordinary show that has attracted a loyal audience of political junkies, and I am looking forward to leading its next chapter.”