Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined the Fox News Channel as a paid, on-air contributor, the network said on Thursday.
“Fox News has been the No. 1 news organization in the country for 17 years running, and I am beyond proud to join their incredible stable of on-air contributors in providing political insights and analyses,” Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
She left the White House at the end of June. At the time, political media-industry insiders speculated to The Hollywood Reporter that she could wind up at Fox News.
“I do expect Sarah to sign up with Fox News, based on mutual interest,” a former White House official said at the time.
The network said that Huckabee Sanders will “provide political commentary and analysis across all of Fox News Media, including Fox News Channel (FNC), Fox Business Network (FBN), Fox News Digital, Fox Nation and the radio/podcast division,” starting with an appearance on the morning show Fox & Friends.
Her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is a Fox News contributor as well. The network also employs former George W. Bush press secretary Dana Perino as a host and former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer as a contributor.
Huckabee Sanders’ predecessor at the White House, Sean Spicer, attracted controversy on Wednesday when he was announced as a participant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
Huckabee Sanders, while combative with the White House press corps, is seen as less polarizing than Spicer and thus was more likely to land post-administration work.
Her former boss, President Trump, had publicly encouraged her to run for governor of Arkansas, which she cannot do while working for the network.