Guy Pelham Benson (born March 7, 1985) is political editor of

Townhall.com Townhall is an American conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Katie Pavlich is Editor. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more tha ...

, an American columnist, commentator, and political

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

. He is a contributor to

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 a conservative talk radio host on Fox News Radio. Benson served as a Fellow at the

Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service The Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service is an academic center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the study of regional and national politics. It is housed within the McCourt School of Public Policy and was ...

during the spring 2021 academic semester. He is heard weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. ET on the

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

radio network.WestwoodOne.com/programs "Guy Benson Show"
/REF>

Education

Born in Saudi Arabia, Benson lived much of his early life overseas, then grew up in

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a Village (New Jersey), village in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Ridgewood is a suburban commuter town, bedroom community of New York City, located approximately northwest of Midtown M ...

, where he attended middle school and Ridgewood High School. During high school, he was known for broadcasting sports on local television. While working toward his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, Benson worked for the campus radio station,

WNUR Northwestern University (NU) is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest chartered university in Illinois. Chartered by the Illinois ...

, broadcasting sporting events and hosting a political talk show. He also interned for two summers at

, working primarily with ''

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 ...

,'' before assisting the channel with its coverage of the

2004 Republican National Convention The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of Republican National Convention, historic quadrennial meetings at w ...

. Benson also reported for an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

station in

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, and from 2003 to 2006 broadcast summer baseball games for the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Career

After graduating with honors from the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

in 2007, Benson served as the producer of ''The Sandy Rios Show'', then a local afternoon radio show with

Christian Right The Christian right are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation ...

commentator Sandy Rios on WYLL-AM in Chicago. Rios moved to Washington, D.C. in July 2010. In 2010, Benson became political editor at Townhall.com, where his columns had been published since February 2008. Benson also contributes to Townhall's sister site,

Hot Air ''Hot Air'' is a conservatism in the United States, conservative American political blog. It is written by Ed Morrissey, John Sexton, and David Strom. Karen Townsend and Jazz Shaw wrote for the blog until their deaths in 2024. The pseudonymous ...

. He previously wrote at

Andrew Breitbart Andrew James Breitbart (; February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American conservative journalist and political commentator who was the founder of '' Breitbart News'' and a co-founder of ''HuffPost''. After helping in the early stages of '' ...

's "Big" sites and

National Review Online ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich Lo ...

's Media Blog. He serves as a regular guest and substitute host on ''The Hugh Hewitt Show''. In 2013, Benson joined

as a contributor. He currently hosts ''The Guy Benson Show'' on

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

. In addition, he serves as a primary guest and substitute host on various Fox News/

Fox Business Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American conservative business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios ...

programs such as ''

Fox & Friends ''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning conservative news and talk program that airs on Fox News and reruns on Fox.Thompson, Ethan, and Jason Mittell. "Fox & Friends: Political Talk." ''How to Watch Television.'' 168-76. Print. It premie ...

'', ''

America's Newsroom ''America's Newsroom'' is an American television hard news program on Fox News Channel currently hosted by Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino live from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. on Monday through Friday. The show focuses on the development of the day's event ...

'', ''Outnumbered,'' ''

The Story with Martha MacCallum ''The Story with Martha MacCallum'', known as The Story, is an American television news/ talk program on Fox News Channel hosted by Martha MacCallum. Episodes air live from 3p.m. ET/2p.m. CT on Monday through Friday. The show has been a part ...

'', ''Special Report'', ''

Gutfeld! ''Gutfeld!'', known as ''The Greg Gutfeld Show'' from 2015 to 2021, is an American conservative news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, prin ...

'', ''

The Big Weekend Show ''The Big Weekend Show'' (also ''The Big Saturday Show'' and ''The Big Sunday Show'' from 2021 to 2023) is an American panel talk show on Fox News in which four rotating Fox News personalities discuss current stories, political issues, and pop cul ...

'', '' Media Buzz'', ''

Fox News Sunday ''Fox News Sunday'' is a Sunday morning talk show that has aired on the broadcast Fox network since 1996, as a presentation of Fox News Channel. It is the only regularly scheduled Fox News program carried on the main Fox broadcast network. Hos ...

'',''The Evening Edit'' and ''The Bottom Line''. In April 2008 Benson discovered video from a 2007 reunion of the Weathermen, a radical left-wing group from the 1960s and 70s. The footage included quotes from two members,

Bill Ayers William Charles Ayers (; born December 26, 1944) is an American retired professor and former militant organizer. In 1969, Ayers co-founded the far-left militant organization the Weather Underground, a revolutionary group that sought to overthr ...

and

Bernardine Dohrn Bernardine Rae Dohrn (née Ohrnstein; born January 12, 1942) is a retired American law professor and a former leader of the far-left militant organization Weather Underground in the United States. As a leader of the Weather Underground in the ear ...

, defending their actions. Since

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 ...

was criticized during the 2008 presidential campaign for associating with Ayers and Dohrn, the clips made national news, from the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' to Fox News. Benson garnered national attention during the 2008 presidential race on two other occasions. In August, after the Obama campaign attacked WGN radio in Chicago for allowing Stanley Kurtz to appear on their station, Benson—who was in studio during the interview—detailed his experience. Then, two weeks before

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ...

, Benson joined with

Mary Katharine Ham Mary Katharine Ham (born April 5, 1980) is an American journalist. She has been a contributing editor for Townhall and ''Hot Air'', a writer at '' The Federalist'', and a CNN contributor. Career Ham wrote for the '' Richmond County Daily Jour ...

and

Ed Morrissey Edward Morrissey (born April 3, 1963) is an American conservative blogger, columnist, motivational speaker, and talk show host.Ed Morrissey Premiere Motivational Speakers. Published 2008. Accessed May 2, 2009. He goes by the nickname Captain Ed ...

to pen "The Comprehensive Argument Against Barack Obama," released on

Personal life

Benson's brother is actor, writer, and director James Benson. Guy Benson

came out as gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in May 2015 by announcing in advance of publication that his new book, ''End of Discussion'', would include a footnote: "Guy here. So, I'm gay." Benson told an interviewer that "gay rights is not something that dominates my attentions—or my passions." In September 2019, Benson married Adam Wise. On November 25, 2023, Benson and Wise welcomed their first child, Conrad, via a surrogate. Benson is an avid

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

fan. X.com "Guy P. Benson"
/ref>

References

External links

"The Guy Benson Show" Site

Guy Benson's Columns

Guy Benson's Reporting
on

Guy Benson, "Farewell (Sort of)", ''National Review'', August 29, 2010
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Guy 1985 births 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American LGBTQ people American columnists American gay writers American LGBTQ broadcasters American LGBTQ journalists American male journalists American political commentators American talk radio hosts Cape Cod Baseball League Fox News people Journalists from New Jersey LGBTQ conservatism in the United States LGBTQ people from New Jersey LGBTQ people from Washington, D.C. Living people Medill School of Journalism alumni New Jersey Republicans Ridgewood High School (New Jersey) alumni Washington, D.C., Republicans Writers from Ridgewood, New Jersey American conservative talk radio hosts