Fox News has suspended its contributor agreement with Newt Gingrich amid increasing rumors the former House Speaker is in the lead to become Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
“Due to the intense media speculation about Gingrich’s potential selection as Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, we felt it best to halt his contributor role on the network to avoid all conflicts of interest that may arise,” the network’s executive vice president, Jay Wallace, said Tuesday in a statement.
Adding fuel to rumours of #Gingrich potentially becoming #Trump‘s Republican VP pick… https://t.co/28gEY7UtWq
— Matt Kwong (@matt_kwong) July 12, 2016
Moments after the announcement, Gingrich said Trump would likely announce his VP selection either Wednesday or Thursday, and “certainly no later than Friday,” in order to dominate the weekend news cycle.
“I have no idea who [Trump] is going to pick,” the former House Speaker said in an interview on Fox. “I’ve been part of the process. We’ll see what happens.”
“It’s a little like ‘The Apprentice,” he added, referring to the popular game show formerly hosted by Trump. “You’ll find out sooner or later who the last one standing is.”
Gingrich in VP running = conflict of interest for Fox News = decision to suspend contract… has zero implications about his chances…
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) July 12, 2016
Gingrich’s name has been bandied about as a top choice for the billionaire businessman, and he has reportedly been lobbying for the No. 2 spot.
“Newt Gingrich is ‘actively lobbying’ to be Donald Trump’s running mate,” CNN reported this weekend, citing an anonymous source.
Gingrich source tells @AlexNBCNews the suspension is temporary; “Mutual suspension for convention”.
Unless…https://t.co/gTuQgiiORA
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 12, 2016
The former House speaker himself has said he would be happy to take the gig.
“If Trump offers the position and is serious about it, which I think he would be after our conversations, listen, I would feel compelled to serve the country,” he said in an interview on Fox News.
A spokesperson for Fox News did not respond immediately to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
