John Calvin Thomas (born December 2, 1942) is an American
syndicated columnist
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...
, author and radio
commentator.
Early life and education
Thomas was born in 1942 in
Washington, D.C. He attended
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
for his undergraduate education.
Career
During the 1960s and early 1970s he worked as a reporter at
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
. During a hiatus in his undergraduate education, he joined the
U.S. Army, and served at the
Armed Forces Radio in
New York. His program on
CNBC
CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...
was nominated for a
CableACE Award in 1995. His column, which began in 1984, is syndicated by
Tribune Content Agency. Thomas joined Fox News as a political contributor in 1997. He was a panelist on ''
Fox News Watch'', a
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
program critiquing media coverage, and until September 2005 hosted ''After Hours with Cal Thomas'' on the same network. He also gives a daily radio commentary, syndicated by
Salem Radio Network.
From 2005 until the end of 2015, Thomas had been a columnist for ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', where he wrote articles with friend and political opposite,
Bob Beckel, in the style of "point–counterpoint".
Thomas has written extensively about political issues and he supports, among other things, many American positions related to
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
He has written 10 books, including ''Blinded by Might'', that discussed, among other things, the role of the
Moral Majority in American politics of the 1980s. Thomas was vice president of the Moral Majority from 1980 to 1985. Thomas is an
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, and a member of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, affiliated with the
Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Political views
Iranian nuclear negotiations
In a 2014
''Washington Times'' article, Thomas claims, "
Iranian nuclear negotiators joined with
Holocaust deniers,
9/11 truthers and
anti-Semites from across the globe."
Barack Obama
In 2014, Thomas criticized the U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
for "treating Israel as an enemy".
Islam
In his article "Mumbai Explained", syndicated in December 2008, Thomas wrote that "no new
osquesshould be built" in Western countries following the
Mumbai terrorist attacks. He further claimed that
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
immigration posed a danger to the UK and United States.
Following the
June 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub by
ISIS
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
sympathizer
Omar Mateen, Thomas called for a moratorium on construction of mosques in the United States until "radical Islamist ideology" could be "defeated".
Israel
In a 2023 column, Thomas affirmed his support for Israel and the Zionist movement.
LGBT rights
After
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
became the first sitting
United States president
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...
to address a
gay rights organization, the
Human Rights Campaign,
Thomas published a column in November 1997 opposing homosexuality, in which he said:
Thomas published a similar column on October 16, 2009, after
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
became the second sitting United States president to address the
Human Rights Campaign.
Thomas said:
Personal life
Thomas was married to Charlotte Ray Thomas for 51 years until her death in 2017. Thomas married CJ Berwick, a classmate from
Walter Johnson High School, in 2018. The couple reside in Key Largo, Florida .
Bibliography
* 2020, ''America's Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers… and the Future of the United States'' ()
*
* 2008, "Mumbai Explained" Cal Thomas ''Chicago Tribune/Daily Yomiuri''
* 2007, ''Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America'' with
Bob Beckel ()
* 2001, ''The Wit & Wisdom of Cal Thomas'' ()
* 1999, ''Blinded by Might'' with
Ed Dobson ()
* 1994, ''The Things That Matter Most'' ()
* 1988, ''The Death of Ethics in America'' ()
* 1983, ''Book Burning'' ()
See also
*
List of newspaper columnists
References
External links
Cal Thomas WebsiteCal Thomasat
Townhall.com
''The Cal Thomas Commentary''(radio show)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Cal
1942 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Presbyterians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century Presbyterians
American Christian Zionists
American columnists
American critics of Islam
American evangelicals
American male non-fiction writers
American political writers
American Presbyterians
American radio personalities
American religious writers
American University alumni
Journalists from Washington, D.C.
Neoconservatism
Presbyterian writers
United States Army soldiers
The Washington Times people