Several contributors out at Fox News, including vocal Trump critic George Will
As it pivots to cover the presidency of Donald Trump, Fox News has declined to renew the contracts of several on-air contributors, including one of Trump's fiercest conservative critics.
A source confirms that Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist George Will, a consistent voice of American conservatism for the past 30 years, will no longer appear on the network. The news was first reported by The Hill.
Fox News has not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Will, a life-long Republican whose syndicated columns regularly appear in the Philadelphia Inquirer, announced back in June he was leaving the party over its nomination of Donald Trump, who blasted the columnist for his decision on Twitter:
Most recently, Will wrote in the Washington Post that on Friday, Trump delivered "the most dreadful inaugural address in history."
"Kellyanne Conway, Trump's White House counselor, had promised that the speech would be 'elegant,'" Will wrote following Trump's inaugural address. "This is not the adjective that came to mind as he described 'American carnage.' That was a phrase the likes of which has never hitherto been spoken at an inauguration."
Will came to Fox News in 2013 after serving as an analyst on ABC News for 30 years, from 1981 to 2011. During that time, he has feuded often with the network's most popular host, Bill O'Reilly.
In 2015, Will was involved in a heated on-air discussion with The O'Reilly Factor host, who exploded and called the Pulitzer Prize-winner a "hack" and a liar over criticism's of O'Reilly's book, "Killing Reagan."
Also out at Fox News is actress Stacey Dash, who is probably best remembered for her role in the 1995 film "Clueless," and Republican political strategist Ed Rollins, who was best known as a political analyst for CNN before moving to Fox in 2011. Veteran broadcaster Marvin Kalb and syndicated columnist Cal Thomas are also out.
Fox News did announce the addition of one new contributor - Nigel Farage, the former U.K. Independence Party leader who was the most public backer of England's move to exit the European Union. He's also a vocal supporter of President Trump, and will reportedly be a "close but unofficial adviser" to the new president, according to Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
While attacking other media outlets, President Trump has praised Fox News, most recently telling a crowd at a donor's dinner the day before the inauguration, "Fox has treated us very well, very well."