Abigail Haight Huntsman (born May 1, 1986) is an American journalist and television personality. The daughter of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. and Mary Kaye Huntsman, Huntsman rose to prominence as a host on MSNBC and NBC News. She then became a general assignment reporter for Fox News Channel and later a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend. Huntsman co-hosted the ABC talk show The View from September 2018 to January 2020.
At age 16, Huntsman worked a behind-the-scenes position at Good Morning America. She disliked it so much that she contemplated giving up on television "forever".[8] While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Huntsman interned with Diane Sawyer. Sawyer's representation of herself and manner of presenting news impressed her. "I always think of her as someone that I hope I can try to be like," she said in October 2015.[9]
She later became a host and producer for HuffPost Live, the HuffPost's streaming network.[10] She had also been a frequent guest on CNN.[11]
In 2013, she was listed as number 26 on the Forbes 30 under 30 list of up and coming members in media.[19]
In July 2013, Huntsman joined MSNBC's The Cycle, filling a vacancy created by the departure of former panelist S. E. Cupp. Huntsman was the second replacement host to join the show after Ari Melber. She sought to bring conservative views to the program, and denied that her relation to the Huntsman family had anything to do with her acquiring the position since she, in her own words, "went through the same audition process as everybody else", against a field she recalled featured several hundred candidates.[20] Two years later, in July 2015, MSNBC canceled the show, and Huntsman left the network.[21]
In October 2015, Huntsman was hired by Fox News as a general assignment reporter.[22] She covered the news of the day across the network's daytime and primetime programming.[23] Two months later, in December 2016, she was named a new co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend.[24] On August 12, 2018, she made her final appearance as co-host of the program.[25]
In January 2020, Huntsman announced that she was departing The View after two seasons to become a senior advisor to her father's 2020 campaign for governor of Utah;[29] she made her final appearance as a co-host on the January 17, 2020 episode.[30] Her father lost Utah's 2020 Republican gubernatorial primary to Spencer Cox.[31]
In early 2013, she recorded an advertisement with Margaret Hoover and Meghan McCain supporting same-sex marriage. "I think it's a generational issue, and I think over time you're going to see more and more Republicans support the freedom to marry. I'm happy and proud of that movement," she said in support of the ad.[37]
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