Todd Starnes
| Todd Starnes | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 28, 1967 United States |
| Occupation | Columnist, television and radio personality |
Todd Starnes (born October 28, 1967) is an American conservative columnist and commentator for television and radio.[1][2][3] He has appeared regularly on such television series as Fox and Friends and Hannity.[4]
Biography
Starnes grew up in southeastern Louisiana, and started working at a local weekly newspaper as a teenager. He attended Georgia State University and/or Lee University, where he worked at the campus radio station and did some reporting for a local Atlanta legal newspaper. He subsequently worked for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Blue Ridge News Observer, and the Baptist Press, followed by a stint as communications director for Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He then moved into talk radio, starting with WTJS in Jackson. After improving ratings there, he moved to KFBK in Sacramento, California. While recovering from open heart surgery in 2005 (which was covered by the station)[5] he got a job offer from FOX.[6][7]
Starnes released his first book in early 2009, They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick, which recounts how he lost a significant amount of weight and his open heart surgery.[8]
Controversy
Starnes' strongly conservative views, which he likes "to spice it up a little bit" to generate reader interest, have also generated controversy.[9] In 2003, he was accused of misquoting then-U.S. Education Secretary, Rod Paige, which led to Starnes' subsequent firing by Baptist Press.[10] In 2013, he became the focus of controversy when CNN, among other news outlets,[11] leveled accusations of racism against Starnes. A series of Twitter comments he posted online, following Nina Davuluri becoming the first Indian American winner of the, as Starnes called it, the "Miss Politically Correct America", Miss America Pageant were the basis for the reaction.[12] Starnes denied the accusations, noting that his posts were timestamped prior to the announcement of Davuluri's win, and referenced the qualifications of Miss Kansas, not Davuluri who was Miss New York.[12]
In 2015, he courted controversy for his response to the film American Sniper, stating of the main character: "Jesus would tell that God-fearing, red-blooded American sniper, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ "[13][14]
In the aftermath of the 2015 Charleston church shooting, he remarked that removing symbols of the old Confederacy from public places was "cultural cleansing." [15]
References
- ↑ Chasmar, Jessica (2013-08-20). "Kansas public school promotes 5 Pillars of Islam". The Washington Times.
- ↑ "Todd Starnes". Townhall.com.
- ↑ "Todd Starnes". Fox News.
- ↑ Hibbard, Laura (May 16, 2012). "Todd Starnes, Fox News Radio Host, Blames Public Schools For Rise Of Same-Sex Marriage Support". The Huffington Post.
- ↑ Larson, Mark (14 August 2005). KFBK drops ABC for Fox, scores with heart series, Sacramento Business Journal
- ↑ Roach, Davis (11 October 2010). By grace, Todd Starnes lands at FOX, Baptist Press
- ↑ (9 January 2006). Starnes Joins Fox News Radio, All Access
- ↑ (5 February 2009).Fox News Radio’s Todd Starnes Releases Book, Fox News Radio
- ↑ Writer, Staff (May 1, 2003). "Misquotes lead to firing of Baptist Press reporter". The Alabama Baptist.
- ↑ Stuart, Tessa (September 16, 2013). "Fox Host Todd Starnes Outraged That Indian-American Nina Davuluri Won Miss America". The Village Voice.
- 1 2 Starnes, Todd (September 16, 2013). "You won't believe what CNN considers racist". Fox News.
- ↑ "War on film: Bleeding red and blue". The Economist. 31 Jan 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ↑ Krissah Thompson (30 January 2015). "Michelle Obama joins Bradley Cooper to praise 'American Sniper'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ↑ Fang, Marina (24 June 2015). "Some Republicans Compare Taking Down Confederate Symbols To ISIS Destroying Cultural Monuments". Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 June 2015.