Kathleen Parker (born 1951/1952) is a columnist for The Washington Post. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, a popular guest on cable and network news programs and a regular guest on NBC's Meet the Press, and previously on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews.
Parker considers herself politically to be "mostly right of center",[1] has been described as a "conservative-leaning columnist",[2] and was the highest-scoring conservative pundit in a 2012 retrospective study of pundit prediction accuracy in 2008.[3]
Parker's career in journalism began in 1977, when she was hired to cover Hanahan, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner by the now-defunct Charleston Evening Post.[5]
Parker wrote about the April 2019 arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the Embassy of Ecuador, London, comparing him unfavorably to the "historic act of bravery" by Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers about American government lies in the Vietnam War. Assange's "non-fans—including many in the U.S. media—long have viewed him as a sociopathic interloper operating under the protection of free speech.".[12]
Controversies
During the 2008 U.S. presidential election Parker called on the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin, to step down from the party ticket (the day before the Vice-Presidential debate), saying that a series of media interviews showed that Palin was "clearly out of her league".[13][14][15] Parker received over 11,000 responses, mostly from conservatives critical of her opinion.[16]
^Mooney, Alexander (2008-09-26). "Palin should step down, conservative commentator says". CNNPolitics.com. Retrieved 2008-09-26. Prominent conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, an early supporter of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin, said Friday recent interviews have shown the Alaska governor is "out of her league" and should leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party.
^Weisman, Jonathan (2008-09-26). "Conservative Columnist Turns on Palin". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-09-26. Parker, after a scalding critique of Palin's readiness for high office, begs the Alaska governor to step down from the Republican ticket.
^Parker, Kathleen (2008-09-26). "Palin Problem: She's Out of Her League". National Review. Archived from the original on 2008-09-27. Retrieved 2008-09-26. Palin's recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.