"Recently, I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News," Smith said in a surprise announcement Friday. "After requesting that I stay, they obliged."

Richard Drew / AP

Shepard Smith, the longtime chief news anchor and one of the lone voices of fact-checking and objectivity at Fox News, a cable network dominated by its opinion hosts, announced Friday he is leaving the media company. "This is my last broadcast here," Smith said in a surprise resignation at the end of his Friday broadcast. "Recently, I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News. After requesting that I stay, they obliged." Smith said he would not be reporting for another network "at least in the near future." While many of Fox News' opinion hosts have become cheerleaders and supporters of the Donald Trump administration, Smith had been critical at times of the president and his policies. He occasionally devoted time in his newscasts to fact-checking statements from Trump and officials in his administration.

Courtesy of Fox News

Smith often drew praise and criticism for debunking unsupported assertions made by the administration. Recently, he took the time to call out conspiracy theories and false statements touted by the network's primetime commentators. But Smith also caught the ire of President Trump, a frequent viewer of the cable news channel, by calling out lies and baseless theories touted by the president. Smith debunked claims that the FBI had been "spying" on Trump's campaign, detailed why the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was not a "witch hunt," and had recently reported on the legal concerns over the president's call with his Ukrainian counterpart where he asked the foreign leader to investigate his political rival Joe Biden. In campaign rallies in Minnesota and Louisiana this week, Trump listed off his favorite Fox News anchors, notably leaving out Smith, the most prominent figure in Fox's news programming. In an apparent swipe Friday, Trump asked reporters at the White House if Smith was leaving "for bad ratings." Then followed with, "I wish Shepard Smith well."

Is he leaving due to bad ratings, or some other less important reason? https://t.co/XBr7xVgarc

Smith's sudden departure appeared to have caught others at Fox News by surprise, including his colleague Neil Cavuto, who was speechless just seconds after Smith's final sign-off.

"Like you, I'm a little stunned and a little heartbroken," Cavuto said on his program. "Wow. I don't know. A better newsman you probably cannot find."

Neil Cavuto and John Roberts clearly blind-sided by Shep Smith departure

Fox's White House correspondent, John Roberts, also appeared to be shocked by Smith's announcement, likening the news to being "hit by a subway train." Smith has been a central figure of Fox News' reporting since the network's inception. He was one of its original hires and has served as managing editor for the organization's breaking news unit for the past 23 years. "Shep is one of the premier newscasters of his generation and his extraordinary body of work is among the finest journalism in the industry," Jay Wallace, president and executive editor of Fox News Media, said in a statement.

.@ShepNewsTeam Shepard Smith just dropped a bomb. After 23 years at @FoxNews , he announced he is leaving the network. He was part of the glue that held Fox together. He is a supreme pro who made us all better.