Fox News contributor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who spoke at a January 30 rally for President Donald Trump, has been an active campaigner for the GOP as she lays the groundwork for a future political run. Fox News, which claims to have a policy against “talent” participating in campaign events, has been a welcoming home for Republican commentators who are considering runs for office.
Sanders is best known for her stint as White House press secretary, a job in which she frequently lied to the press and public. She unsurprisingly became a Fox News contributor shortly after leaving the Trump administration last summer.
As The Associated Press reported in November, “Sanders says she’s seriously looking at running for governor” of Arkansas in 2022:
Sanders and her husband, a political consultant, moved to Little Rock in late July with their three children. Since leaving the White House, she’s joined Fox News as a contributor and announced that she has a book coming out next year about her time as press secretary. She’s also delivered paid speeches and is working as a consultant for several corporations. She waived her speaking fees for local GOP speeches.
Trump has encouraged her to run for governor in 2022, when Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson is barred by term limits from seeking reelection.
Sanders says she’s seriously looking at running for governor and is taking steps needed in case she decides to do so, but that her GOP appearances are about helping the party next year and aren’t about 2022.
Sanders has done or is scheduled to do numerous Republican fundraisers while also receiving a Fox News paycheck. Many of the events are in Arkansas, where Sanders is considering a run for office:
She will speak at a February 28 fundraiser in Michigan paid for by Combat Veterans for Congress PAC and Republican Kerry Bentivolio’s congressional campaign. The PAC states that it “is dedicated to supporting the election of fiscally conservative Combat Veterans For Congress.”
Sanders has also sent fundraising solicitations for Republican organizations such as the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Sanders being a loyal Republican certainly isn’t a surprise, but it once again conflicts with Fox’s supposed policy regarding personnel and campaigning. Fox News has claimed that it “does not condone any talent participating in campaign events,” and The Washington Post recently reported that a “spokeswoman said the network has addressed the issue with its contributors and hosts.”
Fox News has served as a reliable home for Republicans before they run for office. Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Michael Waltz (R-FL) previously worked for Fox News, while GOP politicians such as Ben Carson, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Huckabee (who is Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ father) used their Fox News employment as a launching pad for their ultimately failed presidential campaigns. (Before he ran for president, Trump was a frequent guest on Fox News and had a regular segment on Fox & Friends.)
