Fox News has suspended its contributor agreement with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich amid speculation that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump could tap Mr. Gingrich as his running mate.
Mr. Gingrich made an appearance on the network on Tuesday shortly after a statement was read aloud on the air saying the cable news channel “has mutually agreed to suspend its contributor agreement with Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich effective immediately.”
“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 statement said.
Mr. Gingrich said he expected a decision from Mr. Trump “no later than” Friday.
“My guess is you’re going to hear either tomorrow or Thursday — certainly no later than Friday because they’re going to want to dominate the weekend news with the new vice presidential selection,” he said.
Mr. Gingrich, who writes a column for The Washington Times, said he has “no idea” who Mr. Trump is going to pick, though he named Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as two people who are in the running.
“I’ve been part of the process,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens over the next two or three days. It’s a little bit like ’The Apprentice.’ You find out sooner or later who the last one standing is.
“As a citizen, if you had an opportunity to help lead the country, I don’t how you [could] turn it down,” Mr. Gingrich said. “You’d want to work out the details of what it means, but it would be very, very hard for a citizen who cares deeply to not undertake an opportunity to really help fix things in the country.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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