Columnist, writer, political commentator, journalist
Spouse
Robert Parker
Children
3
Mona Charen Parker[1][2] (/ˈʃɛərən/; born February 25, 1957)[3] is an American columnist, journalist, and political commentator. She has written four books: Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (2003), Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us) (2005), both New York Times bestsellers,[4][5]Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense (2018), and Hard Right: The GOP's Drift Toward Extremism (2023). She was also a weekly panelist on CNN's Capital Gang until it was canceled. A political conservative,[6] she often writes about foreign policy, terrorism, politics, poverty, family structure, public morality, and culture. She is also known for her generally pro-Israel views.[7]
Charen wrote for National Review magazine, where she was an editorial assistant starting in 1979. Later she joined the staff of First Lady Nancy Reagan as a speechwriter.[10] She then worked on President Ronald Reagan's staff, in the White House Office of Public Liaison and in the Office of Communications.
Charen was a regular weekly commentator on CNN's The Capital Gang, which appeared on Saturdays. Following an on-air heated exchange with fellow panelist Al Hunt,[13] the two of them did not appear on the same panel for several weeks. Charen switched to Capital Gang Sunday when that program was launched, appearing until the program was canceled.
In February 2018 she was invited to participate in a CPAC panel discussion. Her comments, which elicited boos and jeers from the audience, included the following:
I am disappointed in people on our side for being hypocrites about sexual harassers and abusers of women, who are in our party, who are sitting in the White House, who brag about their extramarital affairs, who brag about mistreating women—and because he happens to have an 'R' after his name we look the other way ... This is a party that endorsed Roy Moore for the Senate in the state of Alabama even though he was a credibly accused child molester. You cannot claim that you stand for women and put up with that ... Speaking of bad guys, there was quite an interesting person who was on this stage the other day. Her name is Marion Le Pen. Now, why was she here? Why was she here? She's a young, no-longer-in-office politician from France. I think the only reason she was here is because she's named Le Pen. And the Le Pen name is a disgrace. Her grandfather is a racist and a Nazi. She claims that she stands for him. And the fact that CPAC invited her is a disgrace.[16]
Charen subsequently wrote a New York Times op-ed entitled "I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC".[17]
Charen is also currently Policy Editor of The Bulwark website and host of the Beg to Differpodcast there.[18]
^"Barnard Graduate"(PDF). West Essex Tribune. July 26, 1979. p. 2/2. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
^Mona Charen and Ruth MarcusArchived October 6, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, C-SPANQ&A (television), July 9, 2006. Accessed November 30, 2014. "Brian Lamb, C-SPAN: Ruth Marcus, can you remember the first time you met Mona Charen? Ruth Marcus, Author: I can't remember the first time but I can remember many other times in the middle there because we were – we both started in Livingston, New Jersey in fourth grade."
^Charen, Mona Charen (March 2, 2004). "Hating the Jews". Townhall.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2018. As a Jew, I can unhesitatingly declare that the world would be a better place if it contained more believing Christians.
^Charen, Mona (February 25, 2018). "I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
Media related to Mona Charen at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to Mona Charen at Wikiquote
