Fox News Hires Former Democratic Congressman as Contributor

(Photo courtesy Fox News)

Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) has officially joined Fox News as a contributor, the network announced Tuesday.

Ford will provide commentary across all Fox News platforms, including Fox News and Fox Business, in both daytime and primetime programming, according to a Fox News statement.

Ford was a five-term representative for Tennessee, from 1996-2006, where he served on the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Financial Services. He is now the vice chairman and executive vice president of PNC Bank’s Corporate and Institutional banking business.

“I am excited to join the FOX News Media family and am grateful for the network’s commitment to showcasing a diversity of voices and viewpoints,” Ford said in a statement. “I look forward to sharing my unique perspective directly with the viewers.”

Ford currently makes regular appearances on Fox News shows America’s Newsroom, America Reports, and Special Report with Bret Baier.

“Harold has been a valuable guest on FOX News and I am pleased that our millions of viewers will continue to benefit from his insights derived from a highly accomplished career in both the business and government sectors,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement.

The self-described “proud blue dog Democrat” stirred up a minor controversy in January when a portrait of late Chinese dictator Mao Zedong was displayed in Ford’s background during an appearance on Special Report. Both Ford and anchor Bret Baier explained that the artwork wasn’t his, but that he was in a vacation rental house.

Ford’s father, Harold Ford Sr., was a U.S. representative for Tennessee for 22 years.