Thomas J. Basile (born October 22, 1975) is an American television news anchor, political columnist and commentator, and former Republican politician in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He served in the

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...

in various capacities, including in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and was the executive director of the

New York Republican Party The New York Republican State Committee, established in 1855, is the New York State affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP). The party has headquarters in Albany, Buffalo, and New York City.

from 2009–2011. Basile is the host of "America Right Now" on

Newsmax TV Newsmax TV is an American television channel owned by Newsmax described as conservative, right-wing, and far-right. The network primarily focuses on political opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night ...

and a writer on politics, public policy, faith and social topics, and has written for

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

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 ...

Newsmax Newsmax, Inc. (or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American cable news, political opinion commentary, and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative, right-wing, an ...

and the

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D. ...

. He is the author of the 2017 book ''Tough Sell: Fighting The Media War In Iraq.''

Early life and education

Basile grew up in

Clarkstown, New York Clarkstown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. The town is on the eastern border of the county, located north of the town of Orangetown, east of the town of Ramapo, south of the town of Haverstraw, and west of the Hudson Ri ...

, in

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...

. He attended

Clarkstown High School South Clarkstown High School South is a public high school located in West Nyack, New York, United States. The school educates students in grades 9 through 12, and is one of two high schools in the Clarkstown Central School District (CCSD). It is comm ...

. In 1993, he became the first student member of the Clarkstown Board of Education. Basile graduated from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

in 1997, with a BA in political science and history. He then earned a JD from the

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

. While he no longer resides in New York, he still maintains his NYS Bar membership.

Career

In 1997, after graduating from Hofstra, Basile ran as a Republican for Clarkstown Town Supervisor. The incumbent Democrat went on to win. From 1997–2000, Basile served in Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...

's administration as Public Relations Director for the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation. Basile worked for the 2000 Bush–Cheney presidential campaign and was a consultant to the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

during the 2004 Presidential election. In the

, Basile served as Director of Communications for the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

(EPA) under

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

. From 2003–2004, Basile served in Iraq as senior advisor to the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

(CPA) under Ambassador

Paul Bremer Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is a retired American diplomat. He was the second ''de facto'' head of state of Iraq as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United State ...

. The U.S. Department of Defense subsequently awarded him the Joint Civilian Service Commendation for his service with the Coalition. Basile was the press secretary for the

second inauguration of George W. Bush The second inauguration of George W. Bush as president of the United States took place on Thursday, January 20, 2005, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 55th inauguration and marked the beginning of ...

in January 2005. From 2009–2011, Basile was executive director of the

. With David Webb, Basile co-founded TeaParty365, the New York City metropolitan area chapter of the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2007, catapulted into the mainstream by Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign. The movement expanded in resp ...

. Basile served as an elected councilman in

Stony Point, New York Stony Point is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, east and ...

, from January 2014 until January 2022. He also served as the Deputy Town Supervisor. Basile and Webb were featured in the 2011 ''Time'' Person of the Year report, "The Protester", as leaders in the Tea Party Movement. In 2018, Basile unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

to represent the 39th district, defeated by Democrat

James Skoufis James Skoufis (born October 18, 1987) is an American politician of the Democratic Party currently representing the 42nd District of the New York State Senate since 2023. Skoufis previously represented the 39th District prior to redistricting f ...

. Basile founded the strategic communications firm Empire Solutions in 2005 after leaving government and continued until his departure in 2022. Basile is also an adjunct professor at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Publications and writings

Basile began writing political commentary following his departure from government and was a Forbes Opinion contributor from 2012 until 2018. He has written for a number of conservative publications including Fox News and

. Since 2021 he has been an opinion columnist for the Washington Times and is a contributor to The Daily Caller. Basile is the author of the 2017 book ''Tough Sell: Fighting The Media War In Iraq'', published by Potomac Books. The book's

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...

is by former US Ambassador to the UN and former National Security Advisor

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

. In the book, he relates his firsthand experiences in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

during the Iraq War and criticizes the media for biased coverage. While he defends the Bush administration's decision to launch the war, he is critical of the communications strategy to defend the policy. Reviewing the book in the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

journal ''

Parameters A parameter (), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when ...

'', James P. Farwell wrote, "Basile merits high credit for his patriotic service and his thought-provoking book that provides keen insights into what it takes to make strategic communication in war zones a success and into the obstacles to good strategic communication. ''Tough Sell'' is highly recommended. Tom Basile was featured in the 2022 documentary Crime and No Punishment, produced by Secure America Now. Basile began hosting long-form radio programs for

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

in 2016 for the Patriot Channel and the Catholic Channel. Currently contributing to ''Sunday in America'' on

Sirius XM Patriot SiriusXM Patriot is a conservative talk radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 125 and XM Satellite Radio channel 12 The channel features exclusive hosts such as Mike Slater (Breitbart News Daily), David Webb, Andrew Wilkow. , and Stac ...

radio, a week-in-review political show.

Personal life

Basile currently resides in Tennessee, with his wife and their three children. He is a Knight Commander with Star in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to: * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church) * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...

. He is a board member of Catholic Dads and an advisory board member of the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and Public Service Programs (PPPS).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basile, Tom Living people 1975 births Politicians from Rockland County, New York New York (state) Republicans George W. Bush administration personnel American political writers Hofstra University alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni Newsmax TV people