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Stuart Varney

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Stuart Varney
Varney in 2014
Born
Stuart A. Varney

(1948-07-07) 7 July 1948 (age 76)[1]
Derby, Derbyshire, England[2]
Citizenship
Alma materLondon School of Economics
Occupations
  • Talk show host
  • political commentator

Stuart A. Varney (born 7 July 1948)[3] is a British-American talk show host and conservative political commentator who works for Fox News and the Fox Business Network. Born in the United Kingdom, he worked as a journalist before joining Fox News in January 2004 as a business contributor, such as on Your World with Neil Cavuto.

Early life

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Varney was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England. After secondary school, Varney spent a year working in Nairobi, Kenya, before graduating from the London School of Economics.[2]

Journalism career

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After arriving in Hong Kong, he became a broadcaster for Radio Hong Kong. During this time, he would help cover various events and had a short stint working as a voice actor for a dubbing firm founded by Matthew Oram, a fellow Radio Hong Kong broadcaster. He continued to work for Radio Hong Kong before he began his broadcast journalism career at KEMO-TV (now KOFY-TV) in San Francisco.[4] He was then recruited to join the Manhattan bureau of the newly formed 24-hour news network CNN, which launched on June 1, 1980. He hosted the CNN shows Business Day, Business Asia,[2][4] and Moneyline with Willow Bay. In 2001, he left CNN[5] to host CNBC's "Wall Street Journal Editorial Board with Stuart Varney."[2]

He joined Fox News's business team in January 2004, and joined Fox Business Network as an anchor when the network launched in October 2007.[2]

Fox Business Network

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Varney currently co-hosts Varney & Co. on the Fox Business Network, which airs from 9:00 a.m. to noon ET every weekday. The show is also co-hosted by Lauren Simonetti, Susan Li and Ashley Webster. He is also a regular panel member on the Fox Business program Cashin' In.

Varney has appeared on and guest-hosted "Your World with Neil Cavuto."

On August 30, 2023, Fox Business announced that Varney would be a moderator of the second GOP Primary Debate alongside Dana Perino. [6]

Notable commentaries

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In an interview on June 5, 2013 on Fox News, Varney said "We hand down $79 billion dollars every January on these so-called poor people." "You’re not being mean to poor people?" host Gretchen Carlson asked Varney, who responded, "I am. I am being mean to poor people. Frankly, I am." This exchange of words gained brief popularity when it was cited on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, with journalists from The Washington Post reporting on his comments afterwards.[7][8]

On the July 19, 2011 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, Varney criticized the view that America's poor are "starving and living in squalor," citing a Heritage Foundation report on how the ownership of household appliances demonstrates how well-off America's poor really are.[9][10][11][12] Varney concluded by saying, "The image we have of poor people as starving and living in squalor really is not accurate. Many of them have things; what they lack is the richness of spirit. That's my opinion."

In 2013 Varney generated controversy for his commentary on Pope Francis, who had criticized the wealth gap and denounced unfettered capitalism as a system which "rules rather than serves."[13][14] Varney stated, "I go to church to save my soul. It’s got nothing to do with my vote. Pope Francis has linked the two. He has offered direct criticism of a specific political system. He has characterized, negatively, that system. I think he wants to influence my politics."[15][16]

In a December 2018 interview, Republican congressman Louie Gohmert repeated a false conspiracy theory about George Soros that he "turned on fellow Jews and helped take the property that they owned." Varney did not address Gohmert's comments, moving the segment on. Varney later distanced himself from the remarks, calling them "unsubstantiated and false allegations".[17][18][19]

On August 30, 2019, Varney claimed that President Donald Trump had never lied to the American public in conversation with Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh on Varney & Co.[20] This claim was countered by statistics compiled by the Washington Post's fact checker during the presidency of Donald Trump, claiming at least 8,000 falsehoods were attributed to Trump in his first two years of his presidency.[21] Overall, Trump's false or misleading claims totalled 30,573 over his 4-year tenure as President.[22]

Personal life

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Varney has lived in the United States since 1975. In November 2015, Varney became an American citizen.[23]

He has six children and eleven grandchildren.

References

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  1. ^ "Oregon Magazine's pompous Man of the Year, and recipient of the Bottle of Hunt's Ketchup Award is Stuart Varney of the FOX TV network". Oregon Magazine. 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Rohan, Virginia (12 May 2010). "British voice of American business". The Record. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Stuart Varney". Fox News. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Resignation at CNN; Renewal at Fox". The New York Times. 15 March 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. ^ Mastrangelo, Dominick (30 August 2023). "Stuart Varney, Dana Perino to moderate second GOP debate on Fox Business". The Hill. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  7. ^ "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: COM: May 14, 2015 1:04am-1:37am". 14 May 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  8. ^ Erik Wemple (14 May 2015). "Daily Show's Jon Stewart buries Fox News on coverage of poverty, President Obama". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ Thompson, Derek (19 July 2011). "30 Million in Poverty Aren't as Poor as You Think, Says Heritage Foundation". The Atlantic.
  10. ^ "Fox Cites Ownership Of Appliances To Downplay Hardship Of Poverty In America". Media Matters for America. 22 July 2011.
  11. ^ Hiltzik, Michael (25 September 2014). "Heritage Foundation: America's poor actually live pretty durn well!". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ Sheffield, Rachel. "Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What is Poverty in the United States Today?". The Heritage Foundation.
  13. ^ Love, Maryann Cusimano (21 November 2014). "Five myths about Pope Francis". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 November 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  14. ^ "EVANGELII GAUDIUM". Holy See. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  15. ^ scarce (27 November 2013). "Stuart Varney Admonishes Pope Francis". Crooks and Liars.
  16. ^ "Fox's Varney Attacks Pope Francis' Comments On Inequality As "Neo-Socialism"". Media Matters for America. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  17. ^ "Rep. Louie Gohmert falsely says George Soros helped take property from fellow Jews". 6 December 2018.
  18. ^ Rupar, Aaron (6 December 2018). "Republican congressman spreads anti-Semitic Soros conspiracy theory with impunity on Fox Business". Vox. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  19. ^ Wilstein, Matt (6 December 2018). "Fox Business Network Apologizes for Louie Gohmert Spreading Anti-Semitic George Soros Conspiracy". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  20. ^ Hutzler, Alexandra (30 August 2019). "Fox Business Host Tells Trump 2020 Challenger That President Has Never Lied: 'He Exaggerates And Spins'". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Trump told more than 8,000 falsehoods in 2 years, fact checker says". The Independent. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  22. ^ "Analysis | Trump's false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  23. ^ Varney & Co. [@Varneyco] (18 November 2015). "Stuart is officially a United States citizen" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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