Sarah Palin is no longer an exclusive Fox News contributor.
A Fox News spokesperson confirmed to Politico that the “network had amicably parted ways with the governor on June 1.”
Now that she is free to do so, Palin will appear on other networks and programs in addition to those on Fox News.
Palin has a show on the Sportsman Channel in addition to her Sarah Palin Channel. And in an era in which the media landscape is becoming more fragmented, Palin, as Politico noted, “remains a huge conservative force on Facebook, with 4.5 million fans – twice that of Rand Paul, who has the biggest reach in the 2016 field. She also has 1.15 million Twitter followers.”
According to the report, Palin will “remain heavily in GOP congressional and gubernatorial primaries for 2016, and many candidates have reached out to her.”
Palin, whose sought-after endorsement has the most impact in GOP primaries and may be decisive in the 2016 GOP presidential primaries, made that clear this week when she vowed to back conservatives willing to challenge House GOP leaders who recently punished conservative House members for opposing Obamatrade. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) recently removed Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) from his subcommittee chairmanship post for opposing Obamatrade.
“The conservative grassroots will no longer stomach politicians who talk the talk to get elected without walking the walk on Capitol Hill. Go ask Eric Cantor how well that worked out for him,” she wrote in a Monday evening Facebook note. “2016 is just around the corner, and elephants have long memories. My PAC will be supporting the brave conservatives who stood up against Obamatrade and encouraging good challengers for those who punish them for their courage.”
Palin linked to conservative talk radio host Mark Levin’s interview with Breitbart News’s Matt Boyle in which Levin said that “Speaker Boehner’s and Congressman Chaffetz’s removal of Meadows is the latest in a series of ideologically-driven attacks on conservatives. Boehner seems to think he’s Stalin cleaning out all opposition in the Kremlin.” Levin added that the “lessons of Eric Cantor’s humiliating loss have not resonated with Boehner, McCarthy, and Scalise” and “the only solution is for Conservatives to husband their resources and target these three in the coming Republican primaries.”
Cantor became the first sitting Majority Leader to be defeated in primary largely because of his unrelenting support of amnesty legislation, which is favored by the same lawmakers in the bipartisan permanent political class that want to ram through Obamatrade.
“Conservatives need to find serious candidates and raise funds nationwide to defeat them,” Levin said. “Let them fight for their political careers as our response to their disgusting and pathetic behavior.”
In her Facebook note, Palin said that “once again the ‘Great One’ Mark Levin is spot on for calling out the shameful way the House GOP leadership is targeting good conservatives like Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) who courageously voted against the fiasco that is Obamatrade that others want to pass before they even know what’s in it.”
“Congressman Meadows deserves our praise, not punishment! But, like the Great One says, apparently the GOP establishment hasn’t learned the lesson of Dave Brat’s unprecedented victory over Eric Cantor last year,” she added.
Politico noted that SarahPAC, Palin’s political action committee, is “donating to over 40 candidates” and “she is currently out in the mail to several thousand SarahPAC donors with a half-hour documentary DVD detailing her impact on Republican politics over the past 3 cycles.”