Amanda Carpenter (born November 20, 1982) is an American author, political advisor, and

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...

. She is a former senior staffer to Senators

Jim DeMint James Warren DeMint (born September 2, 1951) is an American businessman, author, and retired politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from South Carolina and as president of The Heritage Foundation. A leading figure ...

and

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

. She was a columnist for ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'' from 2009 to 2010 and regularly appeared as a political contributor on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

from 2015 to 2021.

Early life and education

Carpenter grew up in Montrose, Michigan. She graduated from

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

with a B.A. in

Communication Studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

in 2005.

Career in media and politics

Carpenter worked as a congressional correspondent for '' Human Events'' from 2005 to 2007 before joining '' Townhall.com'' to become its national political reporter. In March 2009, Carpenter took a position with ''

'', where she wrote a daily column called the ''Hot Button'' that covered political and cultural issues as well other news articles. In early 2010, Carpenter left ''The Washington Times'' and joined Senator

's staff as senior communications advisor and speechwriter. In January 2013, Carpenter became senior communications advisor and speechwriter for Senator

.In July 2015, Carpenter returned to her journalism career. She was a contributor for

from 2015 to 2021. Carpenter worked for The Bulwark from 2020 to 2023. She began working for Protect Democracy in 2023. Carpenter is known for criticizing Donald Trump, in particular his treatment of women. Carpenter has said that she agrees with some of Trump's first-term policy decisions, but that the scandals surrounding his presidency make it "very difficult" to defend him. In her 2018 book, ''Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us'', she focuses on Trump's perceived propensity for lying. Carpenter is also known as a blogger, author, and commentator. She has made numerous media appearances, including segments on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

;

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

's ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

'', ''

Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld ''Red Eye'' (also known as ''Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld'' from 2007 to 2015 and ''Red Eye w/ Tom Shillue'' from 2015 to 2017) is an American late-night/early-morning satirical talk show on Fox News, which aired at 3:00 a.m. ET Tuesday throug ...

'', ''

Hannity & Colmes ''Hannity & Colmes'' was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final ...

'', and ''The Big Story'';

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

's '' Tucker'';

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

's ''To the Contrary'' and

's ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

'' and '' Reliable Sources''. Her book ''The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton'' was published in 2006. She later wrote about the 2008 presidential election for '' Glamour'' magazine's blog "Glamocracy". As of January 2024, Carpenter is a Republican.

Personal life

Carpenter lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and two children.

Publications

* *

References

External links