Although most news networks discourage their employees from engaging in overtly partisan activities, that hasn't stopped major Fox News personalities from raking in big bucks from speaking at official Republican Party events.
The Daily Beast, citing data compiled by liberal media watchdog Media Matters, reports that Fox News personalities have made at least $500,000 in speaking fees while appearing at official GOP events and events hosted by right-wing organizations.
Fox host Jeanine Pirro made $35,000 for speaking at a fundraiser for Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner last year, while host Greg Gutfeld hauled in $36,000 for speaking at a Washington Republican Party fundraiser in 2017.
Additionally, the report claims that "Fox & Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth made close to $20,000 on a series of speeches at official fundraisers and events for Republicans in 2018, and primetime host Laura Ingraham was revealed to have been paid $12,500 in 2016 for an event addressing the Sangamon County Republican Central Committee."
Fox News has tried to distance itself from employees who appear at overtly political fundraisers or rallies, but there has been no indication that it has done anything to discourage such behavior, the Daily Beast notes.
"The network has long had a spotty record of enforcing its own stated rules," the report states. "Even after removing Hannity from the 2010 Tea Party rally, Fox News then-chief Roger Ailes shrugged off news that Hannity had given $5,000 to Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann... While the network supposedly punished Pirro for her Trump rally gig, it has not said whether she was reprimanded for headlining a Trumpettes USA event in Feb. 2019 at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club."
