By, Elaine Machleder
As a Fox news host in 2021, Ben Domenech has said that true power lies not with “our feckless octogenarian government.” Rather it lies with “big tech companies, the media and ‘woke’ institutions like Harvard.”
Domenech will be the Advocates for Balance at Chautauqua (ABC) speaker for Week One of the Chautauqua season. The title of his talk is “The Future of Politics in the United States.” ABC invites speakers to their podium each week of the nine-week Chautauqua season. The talk will take place in the Athenaeum hotel parlor at 3pm Monday, June 26.
ABC, founded in 2018, invites speakers with a more traditional point of view than has been presented on the official Chautauqua lecture podium. According to its press release, its programs are not listed in the Chautauqua Institution publications. ABC has more than 600 supporters on the grounds and its events are well-attended.
He says it’s a reason for people to get together. “The historic strength of the American family has dramatically waned. An exception to this is the gaming movement.”
He will be ABC’s speaker for Chautauqua’s Week 2, on Monday, July 3, 3pm., in the Athenaeum parlor. The title of his talk is “Building Community with Cardboard”.
ABC’s noted mission is, “To achieve a balance of speakers in a mutually civil and respectful environment consistent with the historic mission of Chautauqua.”
Domenech began his career in punditry as a teenager, when he wrote a blog, and had his own column in the National Review online, a leading conservative magazine and website. By age 15, he had written about politics for several news outlets, including The Washington Post.
He was born in Jackson, MS, in 1982, and raised in Charleston, SC. His father, Douglas Domenech, served in the President George H.W. Bush administration as well as the Donald Trump administration.
Domenech attended the College of William & Mary from 1999 until 2002. He left college before his senior year. But he continued his prolific writing career. Among his jobs, he worked as a speechwriter for United States Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thomson, and a speechwriter for United States Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). He was a contributing editor for National Review online and edited books by Michelle Malkin, Ramesh Ponnuru, and Hugh Hewitt.
In 2013, Domenech co-founded The Federalist, an online conservative publication and blog. Senior editors include David Harsanyi and Mollie Hemingway. Domenech had said that The Federalist was inspired by the views of Henry Luce, founder of Time Magazine: “with a small conservatism equipped with a populist respect for the middle class reader outside of New York and Washington.”
In addition to The Federalist, Domenech writes The Transom, a daily subscription newsletter for political insiders.
Domenech is active on Twitter, a social medial platform. Recently he posted about the indictment of President Trump: “This indictment is going to blow up in their face. A huge mistake. No one will trust these institutions ever again, or the media that carries water for them.”
Domenech is married to author and television personality Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Senator John McCain and diplomat Cindy McCain. They are the parents of two young daughters.
Last year ABC led its 2022 season of speakers with Hugh Hewitt, nationally syndicated talk show host, Washington Postcolumnist and law school professor. Among the other speakers invited to the 2022 ABC podium were author and political commentator Mollie Hemingway; Wall Street Journal columnist and author Jason Riley; and Bill Barker, portrayer of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and Colonial Williamsburg.
For those unable to attend the talks in person, all talks will be available, after the presentation, on the ABC website for viewing on demand at http://www.abcatchq.com/
ABC is an organization founded in 2018 to present more traditional speakers to the Chautauqua Institution audience.