Voting Station

Fred Barnes

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Commentator

The Resume

    (February 1, 1943- )
    Born in Virginia
    Reporter for the ‘Washington Star’ and ‘Baltimore Sun’
    Senior editor and White House correspondent for ‘New Republic’ (1985-95)
    Executive editor of ‘The Weekly Standard’ (1995-2018)
    Panelist for ‘The McLaughlin Group’ (1982-98)
    With Morton Kondracke, co-hosted ‘The Beltway Boys’ (1998-2009)
    Cameo appearances in ‘Dave’ (1993) and ‘Independence Day’ (1996)

Why he might be annoying:

    He said, ‘The problem is not winning the war in Iraq. That’s going to be easy.’ (January, 2003)
    A year later, he decided the problem was the attitude of the Iraqi people and demanded ‘an outbreak of gratitude for the greatest act of benevolence one country has ever done for another.’
    Washington Monthly called him ‘arguably the most shamelessly partisan pundit in the country.’
    He was the only one of 27 pundits surveyed by Huffington Post (including conservatives like George Will and Karl Rove) to predict a John McCain victory in the 2008 Presidential election.
    Although he appears frequently on Fox News, he admits ‘That’s not my place to go for news.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served two years in the US Army.
    He was one of the panelists quizzing the candidates during the first Reagan-Mondale presidential debate (1984).
    Media Guide called him ‘A great reporter/columnist whose material is exquisitely timed.’ (1989)
    He threw out the first pitch of a Red Sox game at Fenway.
    He conceded ‘Trump’s personal behavior is a serious drawback.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying