Who Will Replace Chris Cuomo? Twitter Gets Excited About Current CNN Anchor Getting Time Slot

CNN host Chris Cuomo was officially terminated Saturday after he had been suspended indefinitely earlier in the week. By Sunday morning, there was already chatter on social media about who should succeed him in CNN's key time slot.

CNN has yet to announce a permanent successor for Cuomo. Within 24 hours, CNN weekend anchor Jim Acosta would have his name trend on Twitter, with many users expressing hope that he would be tapped to fill the 9 p.m. weekday timeslot of “Cuomo Prime Time."

Cuomo, 51, joined CNN in 2013 and became host of "Cuomo Prime Time" in March 2018.

He had been suspended “indefinitely, pending further evaluation” after the New York Attorney General’s office released transcripts detailing his involvement in advising his brother Andrew Cuomo’s staff about sexual harassment allegations.

“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense,” the network said in a statement.

“We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”

Twitter users have been enthusiastic about the prospect of Acosta getting a promotion.

Acosta, 50, has gained a following for his contentious relationship with the Trump administration. The former CBS News reporter currently serves as CNN's chief domestic correspondent after joining the network in 2007. Acosta was also a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.

Acosta could provide a boost for CNN on weekdays.

In early November, Nielsen Media Research ratings showed “Cuomo Prime Time” hit an all-time low. The program had 684,000 total average viewers in the first week of November, far below CNN's top competitors.

Fox News' Sean Hannity had an average of 3.49 million and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow had an average of 1.9 million.

After news broke about his termination from the network, Cuomo released a statement addressing the matter.

“This is not how I want my time at CNN to end but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother. So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at ‘Cuomo Prime Time’ and the work we did as CNN’s #1 show in the most competitive time slot,” he said in a statement.

“I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work.”

Cuomo’s time slot will be temporarily filled by radio host Michael Smerconish, who hosts a CNN program on Saturday mornings.