(Credit: Wikimedia, Gage Skidmore)

Mike Huckabee ended his weekly Fox News program this weekend to avoid a potential conflict of interest in case he decides to run for U.S. president in 2016.

In a Facebook post Jan. 3, Huckabee explained, “I won’t make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015, but the continued chatter has put Fox News into a position that is not fair to them.”

He went on, “The honorable thing to do at this point is to end my tenure here at Fox so I can openly talk with potential donors and supporters and gauge support.”

Read his Facebook announcement below.

A Fox News spokesperson pointed iMediaEthics to its statement in Media Bistro, which reported: “An FNC spokesperson confirmed the network has amicably parted ways with Huckabee as it was in the best of both of their interests.”

Politico noted, “Any number of politicians have been paid contributors to Fox News, but the cable channel’s policy requires it to sever those ties if that person takes certain steps toward running for office. At times, it has ended the agreements even before the would-be candidate made a final decision on whether to run.”

A Fox News spokesperson confirmed it “amicably parted ways” with Huckabee, the Washington Post reported.

In November, Fox News’ Bill Shine told CNN that “We are taking a serious look at Governor Huckabee’s recent activity in the political arena and are evaluating his current status.”

Fox News axed Dr. Ben Carson as a contributor in November because he said he was considering a run for president as iMediaEthics previously reported.

In March, Fox News ended its contract with Scott Brown when he was considering running for the U.S. Senate (he did run and lost his election bid).

In 2013, Fox News dropped Liz Cheney as an analyst because she said she was going to run for U.S. Senate.

In 2011, Fox News ended its contracts with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum because they were considering running for the U.S. presidency. (They did run and both lost in the Republican primary).