Game Show Hosts
The rest of Hollywood may swing left, but from Pat Sajak's new National Review column to Chuck Woolery, game show hosts are the right’s secret weapon. Rebecca Dana exposes the TV staple's true colors.
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The Wheel of Fortune host has given more than $10,000 to conservative candidates, including Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Michael Steele. He's written for the conservative magazine Human Events and has a column in National Review, where he recently suggested that federal employees shouldn't be allowed to vote because "None of my family and friends is allowed to appear on Wheel of Fortune."
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The host of Tic Tac Dough and Orbitz spokesman donated to George W. Bush's 2004 campaign and operates Wink's World, a website he uses to spread patriotism and post pictures of the 9/11 attacks.
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Stein's conservatism comes as no surprise—he went from being a conservative lawyer and political adviser to being an actor and game-show host. Stein was a speechwriter and lawyer for President Richard Nixon and continues to defend Nixon to this day. In addition to The American Spectator, he's written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Barron's magazine. Starting in 1997, he hosted Comedy Central's game show Win Ben Stein's Money, and since 1998 has given more than $30,000 to conservative causes.
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The longtime host of Jeopardy! is a supporter of conservative causes and a three-time donor to former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. He also was reported to be hosting a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser in Malibu to benefit GOP candidates with military backgrounds, but his spokesman contests that claim.
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In addition to hosting The Price Is Right, Carey also hosted President Bush's White House Awards Dinner in 2002. Though he describes himself as a libertarian and has done videos for the libertarian Reason TV, Carey has given to Republican candidates. He was ranked the 39th most influential conservative by The Daily Telegraph in 2007, coming in ahead of David Frum.
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In addition to being a talk-show host, Griffin created and produced Jeopardy! Griffin was a longtime friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and was a major backer of the Reagan Presidential Library.
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The former Family Feud host gave money to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign, and he recently emceed a fundraiser with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
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Foxworthy, a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and host of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, gave $1,000 to Bush in 2004 and another $3,000 to the Republican National Committee.
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Woolery, the original host of Wheel of Fortune, declared his conservative leanings on The Mike Huckabee Show on Fox, saying, 'I'm sacrificing my career by coming out as a conservative." In the same interview, he said of the Tea Party movement, "I can only pray as a citizen myself that this gains momentum, and people really start to turn on their government."
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The former Chargers kicker was picked by Merv Griffin to replace Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune, though he'd never seen a full episode of the show. Benirschke was one of George W. Bush's early donors and welcomed the future president to San Diego in 1999.
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