Santorum: ‘Don’t know why’ Fox didn’t suspend contributors Palin, Huckabee

Fresh off his suspension as a Fox News contributor, former Sen. Rick Santourm (R-Pa.) on Wednesday questioned why Fox did not suspend two other potential GOP presidential candidates working for the network. 

Though he said Fox “made the right call” in suspending Gingrich and himself, Santorum is not sure why the network did not take similar actions with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R). Asked in an interview with CNN if he thinks they are going to run for president, Santorum said, “I don’t know.

{mosads}”I mean, I don’t know what, why Fox differentiated whether there’s been conversations,” he said. “They didn’t talk to me and ask me whether I’m running or not. It wasn’t something that we had a conversation about. I don’t know whether other people have had conversations.”

On Tuesday, Fox temporarily barred
Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) due to
their serious interest in running for president. The next night,
Santorum agreed to appear on CNN’s “John King USA” program, where he made his comments.

Santorum is the first of the four to comment on Fox’s decision.

He said that his suspension will not affect his decisionmaking process.

“It doesn’t really affect my decision process at all. I sort of look at it as — I’ve very been up front about, you know, that I’m looking at this and exploring it,” he said. “And it’s not going to — it’s not going to have any impact on what I’m hearing in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina, you know, how our fundraisers are going.

“All the things that when you test the waters you have to test to see how you’re doing really are quite separate than media appearances on Fox,” he added.

Fox executive Diane Brandi told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that the network made its decision to suspend Santorum over the suggestion that he could participate in GOP primary debates.

“[That] leads us to believe he is seriously considering running,” she said. 

Brandi said that Fox could decide to suspend Palin and Huckabee if they demonstrate “some serious intention to form an exploratory committee,” but so far has not seen those signs.