Mike Huckabee Quits Fox News To ‘Gauge Support’ For Presidential Run

Mike Huckabee, former presidential nominee and social conservative, has left Fox News, where he has hosted the show Huckabee since 2008. The former governor of Arkansas explained that he needed to leave to “gauge support” for another presidential run in 2016.

Mike Huckabee made the final announcement on Huckabee.

“As much as I have loved doing the show, I cannot bring myself to rule out another presidential run. Oh be clear, I’m not making that announcement right now and my timetable is still just what wait was before, later this spring, but I agree with Fox this is the right thing and now is the right time.”

Having a presidential candidate employed at Fox News would create legal problems for the news network, which has a strict policy about personalities’ presidential candidacies. Huckabee explained further on Twitter that the chatter about his candidacy was already becoming a burden. He went on describe the good times he had on Fox.

“This is the last edition of Huckabee on the Fox News Channel. It has been the ride of a lifetime, and I have never had so much fun in my life. But I also realize that God hasn’t put me on earth just to have a good time or to make a good living, but rather has put me on earth to try to make a good life.”

Now Mike Huckabee will be free to talk to future donors without being a hassle.

A spokeswoman for Fox News said that the departure was amicable, and according to ABC News, Huckabee says he’s willing to come on as a contributor.

As Time Magazine reports, Mike Huckabee has a complicated past when it comes to the presidency. He ran in 2008, making a strong showing in the Iowa caucus, only to later step out of the race in March. Soon thereafter he started his show on Fox.

Then in 2011, Huckabee shut down rumors that he was running again, saying, “All the factors say ‘go‘, but my heart says ‘no.'”

Still, he insists that his decision to quit Fox News is not a declaration that he is running in 2016. Instead, Huckabee said he won’t, “make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015.”

Nevertheless, putting Mike Huckabee into the mix, changes the outlook for the still distant presidential election. As the Washington Post reports, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Perry have all been courting Iowa’s powerful evangelical voters.

That’s one area Mike Huckabee, who is also an ordained Southern Baptist minister, has a major advantage.

[Image Credit: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons]