Chad Prather (born December 9, 1972) is an American

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political commentator, comedian and Internet personality known for a series of

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos in which he comments on life, right wing politics and current events. His video "Unapologetically Southern"

went viral Viral phenomena or viral sensations are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the te ...

in 2015. He formerly hosted ''The Chad Prather Show'' for 5 years on

BlazeTV Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, T ...

. Prather ran for

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

against incumbent

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

in the 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary, but was eliminated in the primary on March 1, 2022.

Early life and education

Prather grew up in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

, where he attended Westside High School. Prather graduated from high school in 1991 and then attended the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree from

Columbia International University Columbia International University (CIU) is a private Christian university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It was founded in 1923. Academics CIU has six colleges: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, Cook School of Bus ...

Career

In 2013 Prather was approached by fledgling television network Ride TV about potentially hosting a humor, travel show called "It's My Backyard". While working on the show Prather began to use

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

outlets to promote the program. He is best known for his viral YouTube video "Unapologetically Southern," which was featured on

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 ...

and in ''Country Living''. Prather has also appeared in other media outlets including ''Fox and Friends'',

MSN MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...

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 ...

and ''

Nash Country Weekly ''Country Weekly'' (known as ''Nash Country Weekly'' from 2015–16) was an American magazine about country music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site Nash Country Daily. O ...

''. Prather has been referred to as an armchair philosopher. He often wears a

cowboy hat The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, C ...

and speaks to the camera from the cab of his

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

. In 2016, Chad Prather and

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

comedian Cowboy Bill Martin teamed up to begin the Kings of Cowtown World Comedy Tour. In 2017, working with Steve McGrew, Prather released the satirical song "I've Got Friends in Safe Spaces", based on

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

' hit "

Friends in Low Places "Friends in Low Places" is a song recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 6, 1990, as the lead single from his album '' No Fences''. The song spent four weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs, and ...

", about progressive

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

students immuring themselves in

safe space The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations", according to Merriam-Webster. It is a place where marginalized groups can discuss issues pert ...

s. Prather formerly hosted ''The Chad Prather Show'' for 5 years on

until taking the show independent in 2024. He is still an internationally touring comedian.

Political career

In 2020, Prather announced his candidacy for the

2022 Texas gubernatorial election The 2022 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican Party of Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott won re-election to a third term, defeating the Texas Democratic Party, ...

in reaction to incumbent Governor

's policy of mandating face coverings throughout his state amid the

COVID-19 pandemic in Texas The COVID-19 pandemic in Texas is a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of Texas confirmed its ...

. Prather included "pro-life", "pro-gun", and promised to "defend First Amendment speech rights against those in academia, big tech media organizations and politics who seek to silence conservatives" on his weekly podcast on Blaze Radio Network. Prather has stated that he believes the issue of

Texas secession Texas secession movements, also known as the Texas Independence movement or Texit, refers to both the secession of Texas during the American Civil War as well as activities of modern organizations supporting such efforts to secede from the Unit ...

from the United States should be put on the ballot for voters to decide. Chad Prather ran for

in the Republican primary but lost to the incumbent governor

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prather, Chad Living people People from Ramsey, New Jersey Male actors from Augusta, Georgia American male stage actors American television hosts 1972 births Blaze Media people YouTube channels launched in 2018 News YouTubers Commentary YouTubers American male comedians Comedians from Bergen County, New Jersey Comedians from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors Actors from Bergen County, New Jersey YouTubers from New Jersey