Dana Loesch

Dana Loesch

Loesch at CPAC 2016
Born Dana Eaton[1]
(1978-09-28) September 28, 1978[2][3]
Residence Dallas, Texas, U.S.[4]
Education Fox High School
Occupation Radio host, television host, author, public speaker, political analyst
Employer TheBlaze, Radio America
Spouse(s) Chris Loesch
Children 2 sons[3]
Website http://www.danaradio.com

Dana Loesch (/ˈdeɪnə ˈlæʃ/ DAY-nə LASH, née Eaton, born September 28, 1978) is an American conservative political commentator. She is a talk radio host, a television host for The Blaze, an author, and a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association. Loesch has appeared as a guest on television networks such as Fox News, CNN, CBS, ABC, and HBO.

Early life

Loesch was raised by her mother, Gale, in an extended family of Southern Baptists. She graduated from Fox High School in Arnold, Missouri. She later attended St. Louis Community College at Meramec before transferring to Webster University to study journalism on scholarship.[5] Following a pregnancy, Loesch dropped out of college and married, having her first child when she was 21.[6] She grew up as a Democrat, a point of contention early in her marriage to Chris, a staunch Republican. However, the September 11 attacks led her to become a conservative Republican. Loesch and her husband homeschooled two children together.[3]

Career

After leaving Webster University, Loesch began writing for St. Louis Magazine, doing investigative news articles, and began her website "Mamalogues". Dana allowed the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to run "Mamalogues" as a weekly column, which won Loesch the Riverfront Times' "Best Newspaper Columnist St. Louis 2007".[7] Loesch started hosting her radio show in 2008; it became a nationally syndicated, daily program, The Dana Show: The Conservative Alternative on Radio America from flagship station KFTK-FM in St. Louis, Missouri.[8] In July 2008 Loesch was chosen as one of St. Louis Business Journal's top 30 Under 30.[9][10][11] She was recognized by the Nielsen ratings as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Mom Bloggers.[12] In October 2010, Loesch was hired to be editor-in-chief of Big Journalism, a conservative website created by Andrew Breitbart.[13] In February 2011, CNN hired Loesch as a political analyst in preparation for its 2012 election coverage.[14]

In 2009, Loesch co-founded the St. Louis Tea Party along with its board president, Bill Hennessy.[15] Loesch left the organization in December 2011.[15]

In 2012, Loesch was the recipient of Accuracy In Media's Grassroots Journalism award.[16][17] She also guest hosts for other national radio talent such as Glenn Beck and Michael Savage. Loesch was added to Talkers Magazine 's top 100 "heavy hitters" in 2012[18] and was number 33 in 2014.[19] Loesch hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2013.[20]

In January 2012, Loesch spoke on her show in defense of U.S. Marines videotaped urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters, commenting that "I'd drop trou and do it, too. That's me though. I want a million cool points for these guys (Marines). Is that harsh to say?"[21]

In December 2012, after the death of founder Andrew Breitbart earlier in the year, Loesch sued the parent company of her former employer Breitbart.com. Loesch claimed in court documents that owner and operator Breitbart LLC bound her to "what amounts to indentured servitude in limbo" after she said she was forced to terminate her contract as the result of a hostile working environment.[22]

In May 2013, after a series of public comments back and forth between Loesch and Piers Morgan on Twitter regarding the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, Morgan vowed to ban Loesch from his show, Piers Morgan Live.[23] Loesch returned to the show in January 2014 after their producers, who were friends, arranged for Loesch and Morgan to work out their differences amicably.[24]

On January 10, 2014, Loesch debuted her new daily TV Show, Dana, on Glenn Beck's TheBlaze TV.

In 2016, KFTK-FM in St. Louis, her original radio station, dropped her show.[25] The show was picked up by WSDZ-AM shortly thereafter.[26]

In the 2016 Republican presidential primary, she endorsed Ted Cruz.[27]

National Rifle Association videos

Loesch was featured in an online video published by the National Rifle Association in April 2017. In the video, Loesch talked about an unspecified "they" and depicted protests against Donald Trump in a negative light. She went on to say, "... They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again. And then they use their ex-president to endorse the resistance.... To smash windows, burn cars, shut down interstates and airports, bully and terrorize the law-abiding – until the only option left is for the police to do their jobs and stop the madness.... The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth...."[28][29]

The video caused some controversy and was condemned by some commentators.[30] DeRay Mckesson, a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement, said that the ad was "an open call to violence to protect white supremacy".[28] Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for President Obama, called the video "revolting and frightening".[28] U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said, "I think the NRA is telling people to shoot us. Now might be the right time to cancel your membership."[31] Conservative columnist Anne Applebaum said that it called on Americans "to arm themselves to fight liberals. Violence is coming".[29] An online petition calling for the video to be removed from Facebook said, "The video tries to create an 'us-vs-them' narrative and pit Americans against one another. It paints liberals as liars and as violent, unruly protesters who law-abiding gun owners need protection from."[32]

Loesch defended the ad,[33] saying that it condemned rather than condoned violence.[28] She stated, "There was nowhere in this video... where I called for anyone to move toward violence, to silence anyone, or where I called for anyone to even pick up a firearm and enact violence."[31]

In a video released by the NRA in August 2017, Loesch specifically targeted The New York Times, calling it an "old gray hag" and an "untrustworthy, dishonest rag that has subsisted on the welfare of mediocrity." She stated, "We've had it with your constant protection of your Democrat overlords, your refusal to acknowledge any truth that upsets the fragile construct that you believe is real life." Warning that her video should be considered "a shot across your proverbial bow," she concluded, "We're going to laser-focus on your so-called 'honest pursuit of truth.' In short, we're coming for you."[34]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Loesch, Dana (August 8, 2008). "Because it's an important issue". Mamalogues.
  2. ↑ Loesch, Dana (September 28, 2010). "Another Year". Mamalogues.
  3. 1 2 3 "Patriot Dame: Dana Loesch, Tea Party co-founder and rising star of conservative talk radio, reporting for duty!". Riverfront Times. February 24, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-10-22.
  4. ↑ "Why I Moved To Dallas: My New TV Show On The Blaze - Dana Loesch Radio". danaloeschradio.com.
  5. ↑ Hinman, Kristen (February 24, 2010). "Patriot Dame: Dana Loesch, Tea Party co-founder and rising star of conservative talk radio, reporting for duty!". Riverfront Times.
  6. ↑ Weinger, Mackenzie (October 7, 2013). "Dana Loesch: Not afraid to fire away". Politico. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Best Newspaper Columnist St. Louis 2007 – Dana Loesch". The Riverfront Times. Sep 27, 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Dana Show". Radio America.
  9. ↑ "Class of 2008". American City Business Journals. 13 July 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "This year's 30 Under 30 class by the numbers". Biz Journals. Jul 10, 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Dana Loesch". Biz Journals. Jul 10, 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Power Mom 50". nielsen online. Nielsen Ratings. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Loesch, Dana (October 11, 2010). "Allow Me to Introduce Myself...". Big Journalism. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  14. ↑ "CNN Looks Ahead to 2012 Election Season". cnn.com. February 10, 2011.
  15. 1 2 Garrison, Chad (December 6, 2011). "Dana Loesch Departs St. Louis Tea Party". Riverfront Times.
  16. ↑ "Dana Loesch, Sharyl Attkisson to Receive Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Awards at CPAC 2012" (Press release). Accuracy In Media. February 1, 2012.
  17. ↑ Byers, Dylan (February 7, 2012). "Loesch, Attkisson to receive AIM awards". Politico.
  18. ↑ "The Dana Show". WAAM Talk 1600. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Talkers Heavy 100". Talkers Magazine.
  20. ↑ "ACU Announces CPAC St. Louis" (Press release). American Conservative Union. May 7, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Dana Loesch Would "Drop Trou" and Pee On Dead Taliban". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  22. ↑ Howie, Craig (December 21, 2012). "Dana Loesch sues Breitbart.com LLC". Politico.
  23. ↑ Weinger, Mackenzie (May 22, 2013). "Piers Morgan: Dana Loesch banned from show". Politico.
  24. ↑ Weinger, Mackenzie (January 14, 2014). "Dana Loesch returns to Piers Morgan after ban". Politico.
  25. ↑ Holleman, Joe (2016-04-08). "Marc Cox replacing Dana Loesch on KFTK radio". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  26. ↑ Holleman, Joe (May 13, 2016). "Conservative radio host Dana Loesch back on STL air". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  27. ↑ "Dana Loesch endorses Ted Cruz," Politico, January 26, 2016, retrieved November 28, 2016.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Bromwich, Jonah Engel (2017-06-29). "N.R.A. Ad Condemning Protests Against Trump Raises Partisan Anger". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  29. 1 2 Bertrand, Natasha (2017-06-29). "A Chilling National Rifle Association Ad Gaining Traction Online Appears to Be 'An Open Call to Violence'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  30. ↑ Cummings, William (2017-06-29). "NRA Video Declares War on Liberals, Critics Say". USA Today. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
  31. 1 2 "Dana Loesch: NRA Ad Condemns, Doesn't Condone Violence". Fox News. 2017-06-29. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  32. ↑ Holley, Peter (2017-06-29). "The NRA Recruitment Video that Is Even Upsetting Gun Owners". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
  33. ↑ Nakamura, Reid (2017-06-29). "NRA's Dana Loesch Defends Ad Targeting Media, Hollywood's 'Violence of Lies'". The Wrap. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
  34. ↑ Delk, Josh (4 August 2017). "NRA spokesperson to New York Times: 'We're coming for you'".
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