Fox News host Laura Ingraham helped Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this past weekend by participating in a retreat for his donors. Her assistance for the likely presidential candidate, which appears to violate Fox’s policy, comes as former President Donald Trump escalates his attacks against DeSantis. 

Ingraham hosts The Ingraham Angle, where she attacks LGBTQ people, pushes COVID-19 misinformation, and complains about diversity efforts. Fox News is a vital platform for DeSantis, who has made far more appearances than Trump on the network since the 2020 elections. Ingraham has frequently hosted DeSantis and has repeatedly praised his purported leadership. 

Trump has been trying to work the refs by attacking Fox News for supposedly moving on from him, including writing that “FoxNews is promoting Ron DeSanctus so hard and so much that there’s not much time left for Real News.” (The recent legal filings by Dominion reveal how in the tank the network has been for Trump.)

DeSantis held a retreat for donors in Palm Beach, Florida, as he charts a potential path to the Republican presidential nomination. Ingraham was part of the festivities, conducting what was described by Politico and Associated Press reporters as a “fireside chat” with the governor. 

The Washington Post, which noted Ingraham’s presence, wrote that DeSantis’ gathering “was part of his increasingly open encroachments into the former president’s longtime support base and ideological turf” and “designed to showcase DeSantis’s record and show it could be applied nationally, people familiar with the event said.”

Fox News said in November 2018 that it “does not condone any talent participating in campaign events.” DeSantis’ political committee Friends of Ron DeSantis reportedly  organized last weekend’s gathering. Numerous other Fox News personalities have participated in campaign events despite the purported policy, including prime-time host Sean Hannity, who participated in three campaign rallies for DeSantis in 2018.