Tuesday on ABC's The View, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich said that Fox News employees Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, along with Mitt Romney, are the “frontrunners” for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Gingrich added, “I'm probably fourth.”

During the interview, however, Gingrich said that Rudy Giuliani's recent comment that Palin has “a hell of a lot more qualifications than Barack Obama had when he ran for president” was “shocking” and said, “I think that's a very interesting opinion on his part.”

Gingrich did not elaborate on why he found Giuliani's comment “shocking.”

As Media Matters has noted, the Fox 2012 Primary has heated up during the past few months. Palin and Fox News contributor Karl Rove have engaged in a running battle, with Rove suggesting that Palin lacked the “gravitas” required to run for president. Politico recently reported that Rove seemed to be among top Republicans seeking to prevent Palin from becoming the GOP's 2012 presidential candidate.

It seems that Gingrich would agree with Fox News' Chris Wallace recent comment that the “Republican primaries will be a production of Fox News.”