Chanel Rion (born Chanel Dayn-Ryan;
April 28, 1990) is an American broadcaster, political
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
, and children's book author. She is the chief
White House correspondent for
One America News Network (OAN), a
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
American cable channel.
She is known for promoting
conspiracy theories.
Early life and education
Chanel Rion was born Chanel Dayn-Ryan. Her father is Danny Preboth, also known as Danford Dayn-Ryan and David Michael Ryan. Her grandmother was the
Kansas-based
psychic Allene Cunningham.
Her mother was born in
South Korea. Rion changed her surname in 2019, prior to applying for a White House press pass.
Rion attended
Harvard Extension School
Harvard Extension School (HES) is the extension school of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school is one among 12 schools that grant degrees and falls under the Division of Continuing Education in the Harvard Faculty of Arts ...
, where she was a member of the Anscombe Society, a
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
student group. At Harvard Extension School she met Courtland Sykes, who would become her fiance.
Career
One America News White House correspondent
In 2019, Rion was hired by
One America News Network (OAN). She was hired after OAN's former White House correspondent Neil McCabe invited Courtland Sykes, by this time Rion's fiancé, for a tour of OAN. McCabe told Sykes that OAN was hiring for a White House correspondent to work weekends and Sykes suggested they hire Rion. Rion did a screen test and was hired.
In October 2019, Rion reported without evidence that ex-FBI Deputy Director
Andrew McCabe and ex-FBI lawyer
Lisa Page
The following is a list of controversies involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Throughout its history, the FBI has been the subject of a number of controversial cases, both at home and abroad.
Files on U.S. citizens
The FBI has m ...
had an affair.
Rion's article lacked sourcing and was eventually discredited.
OAN retracted the story.
Later that year, in December, Rion presented "Revealed: Ukrainian witnesses destroy Schiff's case exclusive with Rudy Giuliani". The two part series, presented on OAN, featured Rion interviewing
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
and various Ukrainian supporters of his, including
Yuriy Lutsenko, all of whom support various
theories related to the Biden–Ukraine scandal.
During the report, Rion stated without evidence that the liberal philanthropist
George Soros had shown up at the
Kyiv airport with "human Dobermans in little black Mercedes" to find them—a claim that was ridiculed in Ukrainian and American media.
Soros was not known to have visited Ukraine since 2016.
In January 2020, OAN named Rion its chief
White House correspondent after Emerald Robinson left the company.
In July 2020, the media watchdog
Media Matters reported that Rion had appeared on a streaming program that promotes the far-right conspiracy theory
QAnon, where she asserted Q's existence and said, "Q is anonymous for a reason, for a very good reason, and I think that people need to respect that."
In October 2020, the
Borat Twitter account posted footage of Rion and ''
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
''Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (or simply ''Borat Subsequent Moviefilm'' or ''Borat 2'') is a 2020 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Jas ...
'' star
Maria Bakalova
Maria Valcheva Bakalova, . ( ; born 4 June 1996) is a Bulgarian actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Critics' Choice Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Gl ...
, playing the role of the character
Tutar, touring the White House press briefing room together and outside of the West Wing. Bakalova asks Rion "Why is all the fake journalist for the left and none on the right?" with the clip ending before Rion can answer.
In November, during the
2020 United States presidential election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
, Rion supported
Donald Trump's claims of
voter fraud, specifically mail-in voting. She also has promoted QAnon conspiracy theories on the air.
On November 12, 2020, Trump cited a report by Rion when baselessly accusing an election software maker as having "rigged" the election vote, despite the cybersecurity agency in his administration saying the election was secure.
In August 2021, Rion was named in a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit by
Dominion Voting Systems against OAN for its coverage of the
2020 United States presidential election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
.
In December 2021, Rion was named in a defamation lawsuit by former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea "Shaye" Moss against OAN. A
settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
*Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fina ...
was reached in April 2022.
Rion is the chief operating officer of Voices and Votes, a nonprofit co-operated by fellow OAN reporter
Christina Bobb
One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN), is a far-right, pro-Trump cable news channel founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., that launched on July 4, 2013. The network is headquartered ...
. The organization donated $605,000 to support the
2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit
The 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit, commonly referred to as the Arizona audit, was an examination of ballots cast in Maricopa County during the 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona initiated by Republicans in the ...
. The organization also provided volunteers for the audit effort.
COVID-19 pandemic coverage
In March 2020, Rion hosted ''Exposing China's Coronavirus: The Fears, the Lies and the Unknown'' on OAN. During the special, Rion called the
SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
, which caused the
COVID-19 pandemic, the "
Chinese virus
Chinese virus or China virus may refer to:
* A term for Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 that is generally associated with Xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic, xenophobia related to the p ...
". She said that President Donald Trump's response to the pandemic has been "strong" and questioned if the virus came from
Wuhan, China,
suggesting that there are "clues" that the virus was created in a laboratory in
North Carolina.
During a
White House Coronavirus Task Force
The White House Coronavirus Task Force was the United States Department of State task force during the Trump administration that "coordinate and overs wthe administration's efforts to monitor, prevent, contain, and mitigate the spread" of cor ...
press briefing on March 19, Rion asked Donald Trump if he thought the term "
Chinese food is racist because it is food that originated from China."
Trump responded "I don't think that's racist at all." Rion followed up suggesting "major left-wing media" had partnered with China to promote "communist party narratives" regarding the coronavirus.
Criticism from across the political spectrum was leveled at Rion for the question, which was derided as a "softball" question.
[ During the March 30 Task Force briefing Rion compared "children who are killed by their mothers through elective abortions each day" to the increasing number of Americans dying from the coronavirus.
On April 1, 2020, the White House Correspondents' Association removed OAN and Rion from the White House briefing room press briefings due to violating the Association's COVID-19 attendance policy. The policy, set forth by the Association and based on the Center for Disease Control COVID-19 guidelines, allows only 14 reporters in the briefing room daily and that all reporters occupy a seat. Correspondents are rotated to ensure all gain access to the briefing while maintaining safe social distancing guidelines. On March 31 and April 1, Rion attended both press briefings when OAN was not on the rotation list. OAN president Charles Herring stated that Rion was invited to participate in the press briefings outside of the White House Correspondent's Association rotation list.] Rion stated that she was a guest of White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham
Stephanie Ann Grisham ( née Sommerville; born July 23, 1976) is an American former White House official who served as the 32nd White House press secretary and as White House communications director from July 2019 to April 2020. She served as Ch ...
. The next day, on April 2, Rion returned to the White House briefing room, again, citing Grisham's invitation.
Rion's August 2020 reporting featured unfounded QAnon claims that pandemic-related shutdowns were increasing human trafficking.
Publishing career
Rion self-publishes political cartoons under the label "The Left Edge". She began drawing political cartoons in 2017. The illustrations often promote right-wing political conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate
"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police.
In March 2016, the p ...
and that Hillary Clinton killed Seth Rich
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...
. Her work also criticizes public figures, including Harry Reid and James Comey.
As of 2014, she worked as managing editor at a small publishing press owned by her sister Channing that published works by the Ryan family. She has written young adult fiction novels for young women.
Personal life
Rion and Sykes traveled across the United States following Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kirib ...
, attending rallies and other campaign events.
In 2017–2018, Sykes unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for a Senate seat in Missouri on a pro-Trump, America First platform.
References
External links
*
Wordeby's
Rion's language project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rion, Chanel
1990 births
Living people
American caricaturists
American writers of Korean descent
Harvard Extension School alumni
American women illustrators
American conspiracy theorists
Candidates in the 2018 United States elections
21st-century American women artists