Guy Pelham Benson[2] (born March 7, 1985) is an American columnist, commentator, and political pundit. He is a contributor to Fox News, political editor of Townhall.com, and a conservative talk radio host. Benson served as a Fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service during the spring 2021 academic semester.[3]
After graduating with honors from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 2007, Benson served as the producer of The Sandy Rios Show, then a local afternoon radio show with Christian Right commentator Sandy Rios on WYLL-AM in Chicago. Rios moved to Washington D.C. in July 2010.[9]
In 2010, Benson became political editor at Townhall.com,[10] where his columns had been published since February 2008.[11]
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 and Bernardine Dohrn, defending their actions.[12] Since Barack Obama was criticized during the 2008 presidential campaign for associating with Ayers and Dohrn, the clips made national news, from the Boston Globe[13] 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.[14] Then, two weeks before Election Day, Benson joined with Mary Katharine Ham and Ed Morrissey to pen "The Comprehensive Argument Against Barack Obama," released on Hot Air.[15]
Personal life
Benson's brother is actor, writer, and director James Benson.[16][17] Guy Benson came out as gay 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."[18]
^La Fountain, Aimee. "Fox News contributor Guy Benson releases new book", The Ridgewood News, June 12, 2015. Accessed July 29, 2015. "'Sept. 11 [happened during] my junior year at Ridgewood High School. That's when politics became something much more serious and consequential in my mind.'"
^Hayes, Chris (March 4, 2005). "Birth of a Pundit". Chicago Reader. Retrieved May 4, 2015.