Just one day after TV correspondent and Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera said he was pondering a campaign to replace retiring Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman, he's changed hims mind after a "36-hour pondering whirlwind."
"After a 36-hour pondering whirlwind, I’ve decided not to seek public office. Erica and I deeply appreciate the good wishes of those cheering the idea," he tweeted Thursday.
But in an appearance on his network's "Fox and Friends" Friday morning, he said that the network told him to "pick a lane."
"You wake up, you have a dream and the thing is you probably should keep your dream to yourself," he said.
"Fox freaked out, you know, said pick a lane, are you a journalist or a politician. I wasn't ready to, you know, jump off my current turnstyle, so, instead I had to kind of embarrass myself and say never mind...I'm not prepared, yet, to leave my current profession," he told his Fox colleagues."Maybe if I kept my mouth shut another six months it would have been a different story."
Rivera floated the idea of a run in 2022 for the seat in a Wednesday tweet. Portman announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection.
Portman said earlier this week he is sure Ohio will eventually elect another Republican to replace him, as the state backed former President Donald Trump's election bid by a wide margin and because there are "a lot of really good Republican candidates in the primary."
Before changing his mind, Rivera told The Plain Dealer in Cleveland he was serious about a potential campaign and would run as a Republican.
Ohio's two seats in the Senate are split by party, with Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown holding the other seat.
Rivera, 77, has been a reporter and correspondent for TV and radio news shows since the 1970s, including stints on ABC's “20/20” and with his own program. He also is the host of a radio show on WTAM 1100, "Geraldo in Cleveland."
Rivera, 77, lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, where he moved in 2017 with his wife, Erica Levy, a Cleveland native.
The Cleveland Jewish News first reported Rivera’s decision against running through a text message it got from his wife.
“We sincerely apologize that Geraldo is not running or in the case that it makes one happy congrats!” her text read. “We have decided to not run.”
The publication reports that four Republicans have officially announced plans to seek Portman's seat, including former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, former Ohio Republican Party leader Jane Timken, U.S. Army veteran and EMS pilot Michael Leipold, and information technology staffing firm founder Mark Pukita.
However, several others have said they may possibly seek the seat, including U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson, Steve Stivers, Brad Wenstrup, and Mike Turner; Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRoe, former Rep. Jim Renacci, and "Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance.
To date, no Democrats have announced officially they plan to run, but former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton, Rep. Tim Ryan, and several other statewide figures have hinted at potential campaigns.
Rivera has described himself as a friend and supporter of former President Donald Trump, but he also has admitted he did not vote for Trump in 2016, but also has criticized Trump's reaction to the election and the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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