Politics

Fox: No plans to suspend Palin’s contract because of bus tour

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
Font Size:

Fox News does not plan to suspend its contributor contract with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin just yet even though she’s about to embark on a campaign-style bus tour.

“We are not changing Sarah Palin’s status,” said Bill Shine, the executive vice president of programming at Fox News, in a statement provided to The Daily Caller.

Palin’s “One Nation” bus tour, starting in Washington on Sunday and making its way into New England, could be the sign of a Palin presidential campaign to come. Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC, announced the bus tour Thursday.

The tour is not described by SarahPAC as the beginning of an exploratory campaign, but rather as a “good way to … appreciate the significance of our nation’s historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures.”

Two other Fox News contributors who are running or exploring a bid for president, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, had their contracts suspended by the network when it became clear they were thinking seriously about a White House run.

But it appears that Fox is waiting for more concrete signs from Palin that she’s actually preparing for a campaign before suspending her contract. She does not have any campaign infrastructure or staff in place in the early primary states.