Mike Huckabee pulled the plug on his Fox News Channel talk show on Saturday in order to “gauge support” for a second presidential run.
In an email to supporters and in comments at the close of his weekly show, Huckabee alluded to tensions inherent in approaching potential donors and backers for a presidential campaign while holding a high-profile post on a news channel. He suggested at one point that Fox had nudged him to depart or forswear a White House bid, saying he agreed with the network that “this is the right thing and now is the right time.”
"There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run for president,” Huckabee said. “If I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show. But I can't make such a declaration. I won't make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015, but the continued chatter has put Fox News into a position that is not fair to them nor is it possible for me to openly determine political and financial support to justify a race. The honorable thing to do at this point is to end my tenure here at Fox.”
He closed his six-and-a-half-year talk show tenure with a plug for his upcoming book — “God, Guns, Grits and Gravy” — and added: “I say goodbye, but as we say in television: stay tuned. There’s more to come.”
Mike Huckabee ends Fox show to seek support for 2016 campaign - LA Times