Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson left the door open to running for political office on Thursday, saying “who knows?”
“My life has worked in mysterious ways,” she said on CNN. “I started as a classical violinist and was going to be a lawyer and I ended up in TV and never expected to be the face of sexual harassment.”
“So my answer to that question is, who knows?” she added.
Speculation has swirled that Carlson could challenge Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) for his seat in 2018. She acknowledged on Thursday that she had been asked to mount a Senate bid in her home state.
She told CNN that now is not the time for her to run for office, and tweeted following the interview that she is not running for Senate at this time.
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Carlson left Fox News in June 2016, before filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against the network’s former chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes. 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, settled that suit for $20 million and publicly apologized to Carlson.
Ailes resigned from the network in July 2016.
Carlson said on CNN Thursday that she believes there is a partisan divide in how people who come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct are treated.
“What I’ve said from the beginning since my story broke 17 months ago is that sexual harassment is apolitical,” Carlson said. “It is completely disingenuous to believe some groups of women and not believe others, and that’s what we’re seeing play out right now.”
Carlson’s comments come as a number of prominent men in politics, business, media and beyond face allegations of sexual misconduct.
Updated 12:30 p.m.