Amanda Carpenter

Amanda Carpenter is an author, journalist, political advisor, and speechwriter with a career spanning Capitol Hill, national media, and civic advocacy. Carpenter began her career as a congressional correspondent for Human Events before joining Townhall.com as its national political reporter. While attending Ball State University, she won the All America Debate Championship, an early indicator of her rhetorical skills. She later joined The Washington Times, where she wrote a daily column called Hot Button, covering political and cultural issues.

Carpenter transitioned from journalism to government communications, serving as communications director for Senator Ted Cruz and previously as senior communications advisor and speechwriter to Senator Jim DeMint. In these roles, she crafted op-eds, speeches, talking points, briefing papers, and materials on topics including economics, healthcare, foreign affairs, and constitutional matters. She led the #MakeDCListen speech and campaign for Cruz, which was recognized by pollster Frank Luntz for its political impact. Roll Call featured her in a front-page profile, highlighting her influence on social media among Capitol Hill staffers.

After her tenure on Capitol Hill, Carpenter returned to journalism and became a prominent voice in political commentary. She contributed to CNN’s election coverage and served as a CNN contributor. Her writing has appeared in Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times Book Review, Refinery29, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. Politico named her among the top five best new TV pundits. Carpenter is recognized for her willingness to critique her own political background, including her public criticism of Donald Trump and his treatment of women.

Carpenter is the author of two books on American politics: "The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Clinton," which examines conflicts of interest related to the Clinton Global Initiative, and "Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us," which explores political communication and misinformation. She has appeared as a speaker at Politicon and TexasTribfest, interviewed authors on C-SPAN’s BookTV, and guest-hosted "The View". Carpenter has also served as a University of Chicago Institute of Politics Visiting Fellow.