Kirsten Powers

Early life and education

Powers' parents were archaeologists, with Irish-American heritage. She credits her interest in politics and debate with being "expected to state and defend my positions on the issues of the day every night at dinner".

She graduated from Monroe Catholic High School in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1986 and the University of Maryland and attended Georgetown University Law Center for a year and a half.

Career

Powers served in the Clinton administration as the deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for public affairs.

She left to become the vice president for international communications at America Online. After AOL's merger with Time Warner, she became a vice president at the AOL-Time Warner Foundation.

Powers has worked in New York State Democratic politics for many years. She was a consultant of the New York State Democratic Committee, the press secretary for the Andrew Cuomo for Governor campaign, and communications director on the mayoral campaign of C. Virginia Fields. She also worked on the "Vote No on 3" campaign, which overwhelmingly defeated New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ballot initiative to eliminate party primaries. Powers also was press secretary for Donnie Fowler's unsuccessful bid to be Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair. She has consulted for a variety of non-profit organizations, including Human Rights First and the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW).

In 2015, she authored The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech, which was published by Regnery Press.

In July 2017, Powers criticized CNN's decision to not identify a controversial Reddit user, asking in a USA Today article: "What about the people he routinely dehumanizes and degrades online?" But, she wrote, she ultimately supported CNN's decision to not identify the user because they determined his safety might have been jeopardized. Powers also wrote on Twitter that "people do not have a 'right' to stay anonymous so they can spew their racist, misogynist, homophobic garbage".

In January 2019 Powers was criticized and, in her own words, "harassed" on Twitter, after she blamed Covington Catholic High School students for "disrespecting an Indigenous elder" during a highly publicized confrontation that occurred at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2019. The following month she wrote a column for USA Today in which she said: "I recently took a hiatus from social media to reflect on what role I might be playing in our increasingly toxic public square. I was not proud of what I found."

In July 2023, she announced that she was leaving her position as a political analyst with CNN after seven years with the network.

Political positions

Powers supports universal health care. Thus, she initially supported President Barack Obama's health care reform, but later became critical of its implementation. She later opined: "A lot of people who have really been screwed over by the law [and] are left without insurance or with extremely expensive insurance", and agreed with a Ron Fournier headline in National Journal, "Why I'm getting tired of defending Obamacare."

In 2009, Powers urged the Obama administration to repeal "Don't ask, don't tell" as "refusing the service of people like Lt. Daniel Choi[...]an Arabic linguist — a specialty in enormously short supply — who deployed to Iraq and was willing to deploy again" harmed national security. A year earlier, she had accused the Republican Party of using homophobia for political gain.

Powers opposed the Fairness Doctrine, and a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. She also supports comprehensive immigration reform and providing a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, and favors gun control.

In 2011, Powers criticized Americans' lack of concern about the Muslim Brotherhood rising to power in Egypt as "naivete". Her concern partly derived from her then-husband Marty Makary being of Coptic origin.

Powers described her ideal foreign policy as one of limited engagement, in which the U.S. refrained from intervening in tenuous situations it may not be able to control, or even understand. She even went on to state that she is not an isolationist. Powers was critical of Obama's foreign policy, going so far as to say to Bill O'Reilly: "Yeah, he should have given it [the Nobel Peace prize] back a long time ago, actually. But, you know, for the drone war, for the escalating the war in Afghanistan, having all these people die unnecessarily, plenty of civilians have been killed by his drone war, including children." In a separate interview she further stated, "I've been so disappointed with Obama on his foreign policy, and it's compounded with the way the national Democrats have enabled it, especially after the way they behaved about Bush. It's more like institutional Democrats, who have rallied around assassinating an American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, the drone war, escalating the war in Afghanistan, which is a complete disaster, the civil liberties — things that if Bush were doing them, everybody would be hysterical. To me it's shown that they're not that serious about human rights and issues they've been aligned with."

Powers has written opinion pieces against elective late-term abortions. However, in May 2019, she expressed regret for writing those pieces. She clarified that "[d]octors, not the government, should be helping women decide what to do in these situations", such as pregnancies that endanger the woman's life. She added that she "care[s] about all lives, and that includes the lives of women contemplating abortion".

In February 2019, Powers publicly apologized for having been "too judgmental and condemning" in her statements on social media and in the press. She stated that, when criticizing others for poor behavior, she had not properly acknowledged "the humanity of everyone involved". She stated, "People should not be treated as disposable and banished in perpetuity with no path to restoration with society." She also apologized for the tone of her 2015 book The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech, writing that it was "too dismissive of real concerns by traumatized people and groups who feel marginalized and ignored".

Personal life

Powers was raised as an Episcopalian but spent much of her early adult life as an atheist. In her mid-30s, she became an evangelical Christian. The process of conversion began when she dated a Christian man, who introduced her to the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the teachings of its pastor, Tim Keller, and culminated in an experience on a trip to Taiwan in 2006, where she later wrote she "woke up in what felt like a strange cross between a dream and reality. Jesus came to me and said, 'Here I am.'"

Powers has called her conversion "a bit of a mind bender" due to her political beliefs and former atheism, and prefers the term "orthodox Christian" over "evangelical" to describe herself, given the cultural baggage around the latter term. She has said that the biggest impact her new-found faith had on her political beliefs was that she came to "view everyone as God's child, and that means everyone deserves grace and respect".

On October 10, 2015, Powers was received into the Catholic Church.

On November 16, 2016, Powers announced her engagement to fellow journalist Robert Draper. They have since purchased land near Lecce, Italy and relocated to southern Italy.

References

References

1. "Speakers: Kirsten Powers, CNN Political Analyst".
2. (June 17, 2015). "Kirsten Powers: A liberal working for Fox News". [[The Washington Post]].
3. (May 24, 2017). "The Decline of the Fox News Liberal Pundit".
4. (2023-07-21). "CNN Senior Political Analyst Kirsten Powers Exits Network After 7-Year Run".
5. "Kirsten Powers". [[Fox News]].
6. (March–April 2014). "And from the left...Fox News".
7. Smith, Ben. (December 15, 2003). "Power Punk: Jen Bluestein and Kirsten Powers". The New York Observer.
8. Lewis, Matt Lewis. (August 16, 2010). "Q & A with Kirsten Powers of Fox News". Politics Daily.
9. Powers, Kirsten. (October 22, 2013). "Fox News' Highly Reluctant Jesus Follower". [[Christianity Today]].
10. Powers, Kirsten. (April 12, 2012). "Hilary Rosen Feud: Give Ann Romney a Break!". [[The Daily Beast]].
11. (May 27, 1986). "29 Graduates Bid Farewell to Monroe". Fairbanks Daily News Miner.
12. (July 7, 2017). "CNN, journalists should have no pity for anonymous internet trolls". [[USA Today]].
13. (July 6, 2017). "CNN's Powers on meme controversy: 'People do not have the right to stay anonymous'". [[The Hill (newspaper).
14. Joe Concha, [https://thehill.com/homenews/media/426685-cnns-powers-deletes-twitter-app-after-harassment-claim-over-covington/ 'CNN's Powers deletes Twitter app after harassment claim over Covington criticism'], ''[[The Hill (newspaper). The Hill]]'' January 23, 2019.
15. Powers, Kirsten. "Kirsten Powers: I'm not proud of role I’ve played in toxic public debate. I plan to change.".
16. Powers, Kirsten. (December 14, 2009). "Why Cost Shouldn't Stop Health-care Reform". [[New York Post]].
17. [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/02/11/kirsten_powers_im_tired_of_having_to_defend_this_president_and_obamacare.html Kirsten Powers: I'm Tired Of "Having To Defend This President" and Obamacare], ''[[Real Clear Politics]] video'', February 11, 2014.
18. Powers, Kirsten. (June 11, 2009). "A Prejudice America Can't Afford". [[New York Post]].
19. Powers, Kirsten. (July 8, 2008). "The Gop Gay-Marriage Con". [[New York Post]].
20. Powers, Kirsten. (July 2, 2007). "Muzzle Mania". [[New York Post]].
21. Powers, Kirsten. (June 28, 2006). "Burn, Baby, Burn". The American Prospect.
22. Powers, Kirsten. (May 21, 2009). "Dems Go All Nimby On Gitmo". [[New York Post]].
23. (2011-02-03). "America's Naivete About Egypt".
24. "Marty Makary - Food and Drug Administration (March 2025-), Commissioner - Biography {{!}} LegiStorm".
25. (September 10, 2013). "The Mediaite Kirsten Powers Interview".
26. (September 5, 2013). "Kirsten Powers: Give back Nobel". [[Politico]].
27. (July 2, 2013). "I Don't Stand With Wendy Davis". [[The Daily Beast]].
28. Powers, Kirsten. (July 21, 2015). "Planned Parenthood video reveals society 'gone off the rails'". [[USA Today]].
29. "'Heartbeat bills' reveal extremist anti-abortion view that values unborn over women".
30. Powers, Kirsten. (February 19, 2019). "Kirsten Powers: I'm not proud of role I've played in toxic public debate. I plan to change.". [[USA Today]].
31. [http://www.thejanedough.com/kirsten-powers-to-tjd-misogyny-needs-to-go-the-way-of-racism/ Let's Get To Know Fox's Liberal Pundit Kirsten Powers: ‘I'm an Orthodox Christian’], Laura Donovan, ''The Jane Dough'', May 25, 2012 {{webarchive. link. (June 29, 2012)
32. Merritt, Jonathan. (April 10, 2013). "Fox News' evangelical Democrat: An interview with Kirsten Powers". RNS - Religious News Service.
33. Fox News. (October 9, 2015). ".@KirstenPowers had big news on #TheFive: "Tomorrow night at 7 o'clock, I'm becoming Catholic!"".
34. [http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/october/pope-francis-newest-convert-kirsten-powers.html Christianity Today: "Pope Francis’ Latest Convert: Kirsten Powers - Fox News commentator announces that she's becoming Catholic" by Bob Smietana] October 9, 2015
35. "Kirsten Powers on Instagram: "@draperrobert decided to #putaringonit ... so I get to marry my best friend and love of my life."".
36. Kirsten Powers. (November 17, 2016). ".draperrobert decided to #putaringonit ... so I get to marry my best friend and love of my life.…".
37. Powers, Kirsten. (2023-11-29). "The way we live in the United States is not normal".
38. "Threads".