Amanda Carpenter (born November 20, 1982[1]) is an American author, political advisor, and speechwriter. She is a former senior staffer to Senators Jim DeMint and Ted Cruz. She was a columnist for The Washington Times from 2009 to 2010 and regularly appears as a political contributor on CNN.
Carpenter worked as a congressional correspondent for Human Events from 2005 to 2007 before going to Townhall.com to become its national political reporter.[5]
In March 2009, Carpenter took a position with The Washington Times,[6] where she wrote a daily column called the Hot Button that covered political and cultural issues as well other news articles.[7]
In early 2010, Carpenter left The Washington Times and joined Senator Jim DeMint's staff as senior communications advisor and speechwriter.[4][8]
In January 2013, Carpenter became senior communications advisor and speechwriter for Senator Ted Cruz.[9][2]
In July 2015, Carpenter returned to her journalism career.[10] She is a contributor for CNN.[11] She is known for critiquing President Trump, in particular his treatment of women.[11] Carpenter has said that she agrees with some of his policy decisions, but that the scandals surrounding his presidency make it "very difficult" to defend him.[11] In her 2018 book Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us, she critiques Trump's perceived propensity for lying.[12][13][14]
