Culture

US: Mike Huckabee quits Fox News ahead of rumoured Presidential run

Jan 04 2015
Written by Nick Duffy

Republican Mike Huckabee – who once blamed a school massacre on gay people – has stepped away from his show on Fox News, ahead of a rumoured run for President.

In 2012, Huckabee suggested that a rejection of “natural law”, and “natural family of a father and mother”, were the reasons for the school massacre at Newtown, Connecticut.

Speaking on the final edition of his Fox show Huckabee last night, he said: “Tonight I’m going to do more than just say goodnight – I’m going to say goodbye. This is the last edition of Huckabee on the Fox News channel.

“There’s been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run to president, and if I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show. But I can’t make such a declaration.

“I’m not going to make a decision about running until late in the Spring in 2015, but the continued chatter has put Fox News into a position that just isn’t fair to them.

“The honourable thing to do at this point is to end my tenure here at Fox.”

Mr Huckabee previously ran for President in 2008 – coming third in the Republican primaries behind 2008 candidate John McCain and 2012 candidate Mitt Romney.

He has previously stated that he opposes equal marriage partly because of the “ick factor”.

Last year, Fox host Megyn Kelly – seen as one of the most pro-gay voices on the conservative network – apologised after introducing the Republican as “F**kabee”.

Watch the clip below: