Speculation abounds as Fox News talking head Andrea Tantaros is no longer appearing on air. In response to a query from TV Newser, Fox issued a terse statement:

 “Issues have arisen regarding Andrea’s contract, and Fox News Channel has determined it best that she take some time off. She is still under contract with the network.”

That opens the question of what could have changed regarding her contract all of a sudden.  She does have a new book, but has clammed up.

Tantaros was last on Outnumbered on Monday. She got a shout-out Monday evening on The Five for her new book, Tied Up in Knots: How Getting What We Wanted Made Women Miserable.

Tantaros was scheduled to call in to Bill Cunningham‘s radio show yesterday, but canceled a few hours before.

The Examiner opens a few doors on what might (or might not) be at issue with Tantaros and the network:

While not cited by FNC as a reason for her extended vacation, Tantaros recently claimedduring a taping of Outnumbered that certain GOP Establishment-types were coming down hard on her for supporting Donald Trump; "They have been doing this. Specifically, Charles Cooke, who is a writer for National Review, he tweeted out that I should give my job to somebody else. Also, I saw a tweet, it was a meme by Kevin Williamson of National Review trying to make me seem stupid. There’s a girl talking about biorhythms, or something. So I’ve gotten my fair share as well from folks on the right and the left and in the media calling me stupid and Trump supporters as well… Exactly I should give up my job according to men in theRepublican Party."

In the midst of the Obama Administration's less-than-kosher investigations of certain journalists, Tantaros held little back. As cited by the NewsHounds.us weblog, while on the air, the woman who grew-up working at the family restaurant stated quite plainly, "This is Obama’s America. It’s like the Soviet Union. He said he’d change the country. He said it, he said it, he said it, and a lot of people voted for him. And if you see any of those people today, do me a favor, punch 'em in the face. We’ll be right back."

I find it unlikely that pressure from the National Review would have led FNC to yank her off the air. But I have no access at all to any of the parties involved. I have always found Tantaros to be entertaining and common-sensical.  Should the Fox gig not work out, I have no doubt she will find another TV home.