Bret Stephens
{{Short description|American journalist (born 1973)}}
{{for|the white supremacist blogger|Brett Stevens}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image = WSJPlus Dallas Event Feb 2015 Photo i034 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Stephens in 2015
| birth_name = Bret Louis Stephens
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|11|21}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| years_active = 1995–present
| education = {{ubl | University of Chicago (BA)| London School of Economics (MSc)}}
| occupation = {{Hlist|Political commentator|columnist|editor}}
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
- {{marriage|Pamela Paul|1998|end = divorced}}
- Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
}}
}}
Bret Louis Stephens (born November 21, 1973) is an American conservative columnist,{{r|mediaite}} and journalist. He has been an opinion columnist for The New York Times and a senior contributor to NBC News since 2017. Since 2021, he has been the inaugural editor-in-chief of SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations.
Stephens was previously a foreign affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor at The Wall Street Journal, overseeing the editorial pages of its European and Asian editions. From 2002 to 2004, he was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. At the Wall Street Journal, Stephens won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2013.
Stephens is known for his neoconservative foreign policy opinions and for being part of the right-of-center opposition to Donald Trump.
Early life and education
Stephens was born in New York City,{{r|born}} the son of Xenia and Charles J. Stephens, a former vice president of General Products, a chemical company in Mexico.{{r|cosmos|pamela}} Both his parents were secular Jews. His mother was born in Italy at the start of World War II to Jewish parents who had fled Nazi Germany.{{cite interview|last=Stephens|first=Bret|subject-link=Bret Stephens|interviewer=Tom Gross|title= Conversations with friends: New York Times columnist Bret Stephens|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkiWXs9AUWk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/SkiWXs9AUWk |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=December 29, 2020|website=YouTube|date=October 20, 2020}}{{cbignore}} His paternal grandfather, Louis Ehrlich, was born in 1901 in Kishinev (today Chișinău, Moldova). He fled with his family to New York after the Kishinev pogrom and changed the family surname to Stephens (after poet James Stephens).{{r|ehrlich}} Louis Stephens moved to Mexico City, where he founded General Products and built his fortune.{{Cite news|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/155144/conscience-bret-stephens|title=The Conscience of Bret Stephens|last=Klion|first=David|date=September 24, 2019|magazine=The New Republic|access-date=September 30, 2019|issn=0028-6583}} He married Annette Margolis and had two sons, Charles and Luis. Charles married Xenia. They moved to Mexico City with their newborn son, Bret, to help run the chemical company, inherited from Louis. Bret was raised there and is fluent in Spanish.{{cite interview|last=Stephens|first=Bret|subject-link=Bret Stephens|interviewer=Bill Maher|title=Bret Stephens: Out of the Echo Chamber|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60JPl6G791E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/60JPl6G791E |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=September 16, 2017|website=YouTube|publisher=Real Time with Bill Maher|location=Los Angeles|date=September 15, 2017}}{{cbignore}} As a teenager, he attended boarding school at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts.
Stephens earned an undergraduate degree in political philosophy from the University of Chicago, and a master's degree in comparative politics{{r|wsj-appoint}} from the London School of Economics.
Personal life
He is married to Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, a New York Times music critic. They have three children, and live in New York City.{{r|wlstref1|fonseca}} He was previously married to Pamela Paul, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review.{{r|pamela}}
Journalism career
File:Bret Stephens (2391870748).jpg
Stephens began his career as an assistant editor at Commentary magazine in 1995–96.Commentary, January 1996 (Volume 101, Issue 1), Unindexed Front Matter.
In 1998 he joined The Wall Street Journal as an op-ed editor.{{cite web| url = https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/bret-stephens| title = The Pulitzer Prizes}} He later worked as an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal Europe, in Brussels.{{r|wsj-person}} Stephens edited the weekly "State of the Union" column on the European Union.{{Cite news|first=Charlotte|last=Hall|url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5456801|title=Jerusalem Post Names New Editor|date=December 24, 2001|work=Haaretz|url-access=registration|access-date=October 2, 2019|language=en}}
In 2002, Stephens moved to Israel to become the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/all-you-need-to-know-about-bret-stephens-nyt-s-newest-columnist-1.5463167|title=Everything You Need to Know About Bret Stephens, New York Times' Newest Columnist|date=April 20, 2017|work=Haaretz|access-date=October 2, 2019|language=en}} He was 28 years old. Haaretz reported at the time that the appointment of Stephens, a non-Israeli, triggered some unease among senior Jerusalem Post management and staff.
Stephens left The Jerusalem Post in 2004 and returned to The Wall Street Journal.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/all-you-need-to-know-about-bret-stephens-nyt-s-newest-columnist-1.5463167|title=Everything You Need to Know About Bret Stephens, New York Times' Newest Columnist|agency=Jewish TeleTA|date=April 20, 2017|access-date=October 2, 2019|url-access=registration|work=Haaretz|language=en}} In 2006, he took over the Journal{{'}}s "Global View" column.
In 2017, Stephens left the Journal, joined The New York Times as an opinion columnist,{{r|nytpr}} and began appearing as an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.{{cite news |last=Concha |first=Joe |date=June 28, 2017 |title=MSNBC signs conservative columnist Bret Stephens |work=The Hill |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/339949-msnbc-signs-conservative-columnist-bret-stephens/ |access-date=July 13, 2018}}
In 2021, Stephens became editor-in-chief of SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations, published by Maimonides Fund.{{Cite web|title=About {{!}} Sapir Journal|url=https://sapirjournal.org/about/|access-date=January 11, 2022|website=sapirjournal.org|language=en-US}}
Awards and recognition
In 2005, the World Economic Forum named Stephens a Young Global Leader.{{r|wsj-person}} He won the 2008 Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism.{{Cite web|url=http://topics.wsj.com/person/S/bret-stephens/5463|title=Bret Stephens - News, Articles, Biography, Photos - WSJ.com|date=May 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508085923/http://topics.wsj.com/person/S/bret-stephens/5463|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=May 8, 2017}} In 2009, he was named deputy editorial page editor after Melanie Kirkpatrick's retirement. In 2010, Stephens won the Reason Foundation's Bastiat Prize.{{r|wsj-person}}
Stephens won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for "his incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist."{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2013|title=2013 Pulitzer Prizes|date=2013|website=The Pulitzer Prizes}}{{r|pulitzer}} He is a national judge of the Livingston Award.{{Cite web|url=https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/livingston-awards/judges/|title=Judges – Wallace House|language=en-US|access-date=October 3, 2019}}{{Cite web|first=Samar|last=Kalaf|url=https://splinternews.com/bret-stephens-tried-to-teach-me-how-the-world-works-bec-1832996576|title=Bret Stephens Tried to Teach Me Because I Called Him Remarkably Dumb|website=Splinter|date=March 1, 2019|access-date=October 3, 2019}} In 2015, Stephens joined the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.shortyawards.com/post/111222912657/the-wall-street-journal-columnist-bret-stephens|title=The Wall Street Journal columnist, Bret Stephens, joins the RT Academy!|website=Shorty Awards Blog|access-date=October 9, 2019}} The Real-Time Academy judges contestants for the Shorty Awards, which honor the best individuals and organizations on social media.{{Cite web|url=https://shortyawards.com/about|title=The Shorty Awards - Honoring the best of social media|website=shortyawards.com|access-date=October 9, 2019}}
Stephens has chaired two Pulitzer juries. In 2016, he chaired the one that awarded the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting to Alyssa Rubin of The New York Times.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/alissa-j-rubin|title=Alissa J. Rubin of The New York Times|date=2016|website=The Pulitzer Prize}} In 2017, Stephens chaired the jury that awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing to Art Cullen of The Storm Lake Times.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/art-cullen|title=Art Cullen of The Storm Lake Times, Storm Lake, IA|date=2017|website=The Pulitzer Prize}}
Stephens spoke at the University of Chicago's 2023 Class Day, during convocation weekend. His invitation provoked backlash from various student groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine, for his views about Israel.{{Cite web |last=Zeglis |first=Austin |title=The Provocative, Polarizing Prose of 2023 Class Day Speaker Bret Stephens |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/38684/news/the-provocative-polarizing-prose-of-2023-class-day-speaker-bret-stephens/ |access-date=April 12, 2023 |website=Chicago Maroon}}
Published works
Stephens's book America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder was released in November 2014.{{r|wsj-person}} In it, he argues that the US has been retreating from its role as the "world's policeman" in recent decades, which will lead to ever-greater world problems.
Controversy
= George Washington University =
In August 2019, Stephens sent a complaint to a George Washington University (GWU) professor and the university's provost about a tweet in which the professor called Stephens a "bedbug".{{cite news |last1=Elfrink |first1=Tim |last2=Krakow |first2=Morgan |title=A professor called Bret Stephens a 'bedbug.' The New York Times columnist complained to the professor's boss. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/27/bret-stephens-bedbug-david-karpf-twitter/ |access-date=August 27, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 27, 2019 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Santucci |first1=Jeanine |last2=Bote |first2=Joshua |title='Call me a bedbug to my face': New York Times columnist Bret Stephens responds to professor |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/27/nyt-columnist-bret-stephens-called-bedbug-professor-david-karpf/2129537001/ |access-date=August 27, 2019 |work=USA Today |date=August 27, 2019 |language=en}} The topic of Stephens's next column was the "rhetoric of infestation" used by authoritarian regimes such as Nazi Germany. The column was interpreted as criticism of the GWU professor and other critics of Stephens.{{Cite news|first=Hannah|last=Knowles|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/08/31/bret-stephens-is-still-talking-about-bedbugs-now-language-holocaust/?noredirect=on|title=Bret Stephens 'bedbugs' spat: Times writer's latest column links phrase to Nazi rhetoric during Holocaust|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 31, 2019|access-date=September 25, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bret-stephens-bedbug-nazi-column_n_5d69e2f0e4b0cdfe05704bf5|title=Stunned Twitter Critics Swat Bret Stephens' Bedbug Link To Nazis In NYT Column|first=Mary|last=Papenfuss|date=August 31, 2019|website=HuffPost|access-date=September 25, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/30/bret-stephens-bedbug-column-twitter|title=Bret Stephens criticized for bedbug reference in second world war column|first=Vivian|last=Ho|date=August 31, 2019|access-date=September 25, 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}} The controversy gained massive attention online, leading to then-president Donald Trump tweeting, "lightweight journalist Bret Stephens, a Conservative who does anything that his bosses at the paper tell him to do! He is now quitting Twitter after being called a 'bedbug.' Tough guy!"{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/trump-weighs-in-on-bret-stephens-bedbug-controversy|title=At Long Last, Trump Weighs In on Bret Stephens Bedbug Controversy|website=Vanity Fair|date=August 28, 2019}}{{cite tweet|first=Donald|last=Trump|authorlink=Donald Trump|user=realDonaldTrump|url=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1166672386214772736|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218091238/https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1166672386214772736|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 18, 2020|title='The infestation of bedbugs at the New York Times office' @OANN was perhaps brought in by lightweight journalist Bret Stephens, a Conservative who does anything that his bosses at the paper tell him to do! He is now quitting Twitter after being called a 'bedbug.' Tough guy!|number=20201218091238|date=August 28, 2019}}
=Comments about antisemitism, race=
In August 2016, The Wall Street Journal published a column by Stephens about an Egyptian judoka refusing to shake hands with his Israeli opponent after an Olympic match, in which Stephens called antisemitism "the disease of the Arab mind".{{Cite news|last=Stephens|first=Bret|date=August 15, 2016|title=The Meaning of an Olympic Snub|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-meaning-of-an-olympic-snub-1471303698|access-date=August 19, 2021|issn=0099-9660}} Some readers criticized this as a racist generalization that all Arabs were antisemitic. After Stephens joined The New York Times, several reporters at the newspaper criticized Stephens's previous writings.{{Cite web|last=Bowden|first=John|date=April 26, 2017|title=NYT columnist defends his 'disease of the Arab mind' comments|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/330615-nyt-columnist-defends-his-disease-of-the-arab-mind-comments-in/|access-date=August 19, 2021|website=The Hill|language=en}}
In a December 2019 column titled "The Secrets of Jewish Genius",{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/opinion/jewish-culture-genius-iq.html |title=The Secrets of Jewish Genius|last=Stephens|first=Bret|date=December 28, 2019|work=The New York Times}} in which he contended that Ashkenazi Jews have a history of alternative thinking which has led them to be successful. This article led to accusations of eugenics and racism. The column originally said that "Ashkenazi Jews might have a marginal advantage over their gentile peers when it comes to thinking better. Where their advantage more often lies is in thinking different."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/dec/28/bret-stephens-new-york-times-jewish-intelligence-eugenics|title=New York Times columnist accused of eugenics over piece on Jewish intelligence|last=Helmore|first=Edward|date=December 28, 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=December 29, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/bret-stephens-nyt-jewish-genius-column|title=The New York Times' Bret Stephens faces racism accusations after penning 'Jewish genius' column|last=Dorman|first=Sam|date=December 28, 2019|website=Fox News|language=en-US|access-date=December 29, 2019}} Following widespread criticism, The New York Times editors deleted the section of the column in which he appeared to claim that Ashkenazi Jews are genetically superior to other groups.{{Cite news|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/nyt-cuts-dubious-study-from-op-ed-seemingly-arguing-jewish-genetic-superiority/|title=NYT cuts dubious study from op-ed seemingly arguing Jewish genetic superiority|newspaper=Times of Israel|language=en-US|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 30, 2019}} The editors said that Stephens erred in citing an academic study by an author with "racist views" whose 2005 paper advanced a genetic hypothesis for the basis of intelligence among Ashkenazi Jews.{{Cite journal|first=Matthew|last=Ingram|title=The dilemma that is Times columnist Bret Stephens|url=https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/bret-stephens.php|date=January 2, 2020|access-date=July 29, 2020|journal=Columbia Journalism Review|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York City|language=en}} The Times
In February 2021, Stephens wrote a column critical of the Times
Political views
=Foreign policy=
Foreign policy was one of the central subjects of the columns for which Stephens won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.{{r|pulitzer}} Critics have characterized his foreign policy opinions as neoconservative, part of a right-wing political movement associated with President George W. Bush that advocates the use of military force abroad, particularly in the Middle East, as a way of promoting democracy there.{{r|foreignpolicy|nymag}} Stephens was a "prominent voice" among the media advocates for the start of the 2003 Iraq War,{{r|foreignpolicy}} for instance writing in a 2002 column that, unless checked, Iraq was likely to become the first nuclear power in the Arab world.{{r|iw2cc}} Although the weapons of mass destruction used as a casus belli were never shown to exist, Stephens continued to insist as late as 2013 that the Bush administration had "solid evidence" for going to war.{{r|iw2cc}} He also argued strongly against the Iran nuclear deal and its preliminary agreements, claiming that they are a worse bargain even than the 1938 Munich Agreement with Nazi Germany.{{r|iw2cc}}
= Israel =
Stephens is a supporter of Israel and considers himself a Zionist.{{Cite web |date=April 13, 2017 |title=WSJ's Bret Stephens Weighs In On Israel, the Media & Trump |url=https://www.thejewishnews.com/news/national/wsj-s-bret-stephens-weighs-in-on-israel-the-media-trump/article_c76c017c-f902-5d38-8789-aa223e524646.html |access-date=October 7, 2024 |website=The Detroit Jewish News|language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Pazzanese |first=Christina |date=2024-05-01 |title=Bret Stephens: Cease-fire will fail as long as Hamas exists |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/05/bret-stephens-cease-fire-will-fail-as-long-as-hamas-exists/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}} Stephens said that one of the reasons he left The Wall Street Journal for The Jerusalem Post was that he believed that Western media was getting Israel's story wrong. "I do not think Israel is the aggressor here", he said. "Insofar as getting the story right helps Israel, I guess you could say I'm trying to help Israel." Stephens led The Jerusalem Post during the height of the Second Intifada and pointed the paper in a more neoconservative direction. He has said that he did not consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal despite international law saying otherwise.{{Cite web |title=Bloggingheads.tv |url=https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/61907#google_vignette |access-date=2025-04-27 |language=en}}
He supported Israel during the Gaza war and strongly opposed the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas.{{Cite news |last=Stephens |first=Bret |date=2024-10-08 |title=Opinion {{!}} We Should Want Israel to Win |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/opinion/israel-lebanon-iran-gaza.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} He has criticized such groups for their violent actions towards Israel and has blamed Hamas for the ongoing conflict.{{Cite news |last=Stephens |first=Bret |date=2024-10-08 |title=Opinion {{!}} We Should Want Israel to Win |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/opinion/israel-lebanon-iran-gaza.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Pazzanese |first=Christina |date=2024-05-01 |title=Bret Stephens: Cease-fire will fail as long as Hamas exists |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/05/bret-stephens-cease-fire-will-fail-as-long-as-hamas-exists/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}
In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Stephens called South Africa's genocide case against Israel a "moral obscenity" that supposedly misinterpreted quotes from Israeli officials. He pointed to the 1988 Hamas charter to claim that Hamas was a genocidal organization and accused Hamas or hiding behind civilians.{{cite web |last1=Stephens |first1=Bret |title=The Genocide Charge Against Israel Is a Moral Obscenity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/opinion/israel-hamas-war-genocide.html |website=New York Times |date=16 January 2024 |access-date=5 May 2025}} Richard Falk called this piece, "so extreme, in my view, as to make it unpublishable in a responsible media platform" and claimed that calling "recourse to the preeminent judicial body with a conservative legal tradition 'a moral obscenity' is itself 'a moral obscenity.'"{{cite web |last1=Falk |first1=Richard |title=Why International Law Matters even if Israel Refuses to Comply with ICJ Priovisional Measures Ruling |url=https://richardfalk.org/2024/01/17/why-international-law-matters-even-if-israel-refuses-to-comply-with-icj-priovisional-measures-ruling/ |access-date=5 May 2025 |date=17 January 2024}}
=Global warming=
Stephens is also known for his climate change contrarianism.{{r|egwst}}{{r|hockey}} He has been described as a climate change denier,{{r|fox17|slate|slate2|sciam}} but disavows that term, calling himself agnostic on the issue.{{r|calbau|desmog}}
Stephens considers climate change a "20-year-old mass hysteria phenomenon" and rejects the notion that greenhouse-gas emissions are an environmental threat. According to him, "it isn't science" and belongs in the "realm of belief" as it is a "sick-souled religion".{{r|egwst}} He also mocks climate change activism as hysterical alarmism,{{r|aip}} denying that any significant temperature change will occur in the next 100 years{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=David |date=May 1, 2017 |title=The New York Times should not have hired climate change bullshitter Bret Stephens |url=https://www.vox.com/2017/5/1/15482698/new-york-times-bret-stephens |access-date=July 29, 2020 |website=Vox |language=en}} and arguing that it distracts from more important issues, such as terrorism.{{r|wild}} Stephens claims that global warming activism is based on theological beliefs, rather than science, as an outgrowth of Western tendencies to expect punishment for sins.{{r|egwst}} He has also suggested that activists would be more persuasive if they were less sure of their beliefs.{{r|slate|guardian}} Stephens's positions on this issue led to a protest in 2013 over his Pulitzer citation omitting his climate change columns,{{r|aip}} and to a strong backlash against his 2017 hiring by The New York Times.{{r|fox17|calbau|guardian}} In reaction, The New York Times praised Stephens's "intellectual honesty and fairness".{{r|desmog}} As of October 28, 2022, Stephens said that he had come to accept the reality of anthropogenic climate change after a trip to Greenland with climate scientist John Englander, although he believes that markets are more effective than government at addressing the problem.{{Cite news |last=Stephens |first=Bret |date=October 28, 2022 |title=Yes, Greenland's ice is melting, but... |language=en |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/28/opinion/climate-change-bret-stephens.html |access-date=November 12, 2022}}
= Gun rights =
Stephens disagrees with the mainstream conservative support for the Second Amendment and has called for its repeal, but he does not support a ban on gun ownership.{{Cite web |first=Charles C. W. |last=Cooke |date=October 5, 2017 |title=Bret Stephens Indeed Does Not Understand the Second Amendment |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/10/bret-stephens-guns-columnist-does-not-understand/ |access-date=June 26, 2023 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Concha |first=Joe |date=October 5, 2017 |title=NYT conservative Bret Stephens: 'Repeal the Second Amendment' |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/354017-nyt-conservative-bret-stephens-repeal-the-second-amendment/ |access-date=June 26, 2023 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}
=Donald Trump=
During the 2016 United States presidential election campaign, Stephens became part of the Stop Trump movement, regularly writing articles for The Wall Street Journal opposing Donald Trump's candidacy{{r|fox17}} and becoming "one of Trump's most outspoken conservative critics".{{r|mediaite}} Stephens has compared Trump to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. After Trump was elected, Stephens continued to oppose him: in February 2017, Stephens gave the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture at the University of California, Los Angeles, and used the platform to denounce Trump's attacks on the media.{{r|pearl}} His opposition to Trump continued after he moved to the Times. For instance, in 2018 he argued that by the same logic Republicans used to justify the impeachment of Bill Clinton, they should impeach Trump.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/opinion/donald-trump-cohen-impeachment.html|title=Donald Trump's High Crimes and Misdemeanors|first=Bret|last=-Stephens|work=The New York Times|date=August 22, 2018}}
After the 2024 United States presidential election, Stephens published an opinion article in The New York Times acknowledging his past criticisms and reservations about Trump but concluding, "So here's a thought for Trump’s perennial critics, including those of us on the right: Let's enter the new year by wishing the new administration well, by giving some of Trump's cabinet picks the benefit of the doubt, by dropping the lurid historical comparisons to past dictators, by not sounding paranoid about the ever-looming end of democracy, by hoping for the best and knowing that we need to fight the wrongs that are real and not merely what we fear, that whatever happens, this too shall pass."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/opinion/never-trump-republicans.html|title=Done With Never Trump|first=Bret|last=Stephens|work=The New York Times|date=December 17, 2024}}
Published works
- America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder (November 2014), {{ISBN|978-1591846628}}
- Has Obama Made the World a More Dangerous Place? The Munk Debate on U.S. Foreign Policy (August 2015), {{ISBN|978-1770899964}}
- The Dying Art of Disagreement (December 2017), {{ISBN|9780648018902}}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite magazine|title=Bret Stephens, harsh Wall Street Journal critic of climate scientists, wins Pulitzer Prize: The award recognizes only certain columns from 2012, none reflecting his climate-wars participation|magazine=Physics Today|date=April 17, 2013|first=Steven T.|last=Corneliussen|doi=10.1063/PT.4.2441}}.
|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?323813-1/words-bret-stephens
|title=After Words with Bret Stephens
|people=Bob Minzesheimer (interviewer)
|minutes=12:10
|date = January 17, 2015
|access-date=September 3, 2019
|series=After Words
|publisher=C-SPAN
|quote=First of all, I was born in New York and I'm wondering why Wikipedia keeps insisting that i was born in Mexico. But I was born to a father who had been born in Mexico and had a family business there...}}
{{Cite press release|url=https://www.nytco.com/press/bret-stephens-joins-nyt-opinion/|title=Bret Stephens Joins NYT Opinion|publisher=The New York Times Company|date=April 12, 2017|access-date=September 3, 2019}}
|url=http://www.jerusalemdiaries.com/article/76
|title=Getting To Know You
|first= Judy Lash
|last=Balint
|date=January 23, 2003
|work=Israel Insider
|access-date=September 3, 2019
}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124598062987558143 |title=Being Bret Stephens -- Or Not|first=Bret|last=Stephens|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 26, 2009 |access-date=January 25, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134715/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124598062987558143 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}
{{cite magazine|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/06/20/being-a-neocon-means-never-having-to-say-youre-sorry/|title=Being a Neocon Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry|first=Stephen M.|last=Walt|magazine=Foreign Policy|date=June 20, 2014}}
{{cite news|title=New York Times hire of conservative scribe Bret Stephens seen as move to widen readership|work=Fox News|date=April 17, 2017|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-times-hire-of-conservative-scribe-bret-stephens-seen-as-move-to-widen-readership|quote=While Stephens has garnered moderate praise from the left for being anti-Trump, he has written on other topics that may anger most Times readers. His views on climate change have created the strongest backlash, so far, with liberal site ThinkProgress questioning the hire on Wednesday and calling the writer is a climate science denier.}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/apr/29/ny-times-hired-a-hippe-puncher-to-give-climate-obstructionists-cover|title=NY Times hired a hippie puncher to give climate obstructionists cover|newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 29, 2017|first=Dana|last=Nuccitelli|quote=In other words, the people obstructing climate policies are justified because climate “advocates” are too mean to them, and claim too much certainty about the future. This is of course nonsense. }}
{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klerAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA70|title=The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines|first=Michael E.|last=Mann|author-link=Michael E. Mann|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York City|year=2013|isbn=9780231152556|page=70}}
{{cite web|url=http://www.mediaite.com/online/wsjs-bret-stephens-trump-must-lose-so-badly-that-the-gop-voters-learn-their-lesson/|title=WSJ's Bret Stephens: Trump Must Lose So Badly That the GOP Voters 'Learn Their Lesson'|work=Mediaite|date=May 29, 2016|first=Sam|last=Reisman|quote=Stephens has been one of Trump's most outspoken conservative critics}}
{{cite magazine|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/08/neocons-outcast-trump.html|magazine=New York Magazine|first=Jonathan|last=Chait|author-link=Jonathan Chait|title=The Neocons Have Gone From GOP Thought-Leaders to Outcasts|date=August 22, 2016}}
{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/20/style/weddings-pamela-paul-bret-stephens.html |newspaper=The New York Times | title=Weddings; Pamela Paul, Bret Stephens | date=September 20, 1998}}
{{cite book|title=The Wild and the Wicked: On Nature and Human Nature|first=Benjamin|last=Hale|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|year=2016|isbn=9780262035408|page=6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwu0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6}}
{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124598062987558143 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |first=Bret |last=Stephens |title=Being Bret Stephens – Or Not |date=June 26, 2009}}
|url=http://topics.wsj.com/person/S/bret-stephens/5463
|title=Bret Stephens: Deputy editor, editorial page, The Wall Street Journal
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170508085923/http://topics.wsj.com/person/S/bret-stephens/5463
|archive-date = May 8, 2017
|access-date = September 3, 2019
|website=The Wall Street Journal
}}
|url=https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/04/25/new-york-times-defends-hiring-climate-science-denier-bret-stephens-claiming-intellectual-honesty
|title=New York Times Defends Hiring of Climate Science Denier Bret Stephens, Claiming 'Intellectual Honesty'
|website=DeSmogBlog
|date=April 25, 2017
|access-date=September 3, 2019}}
{{cite news|first=Susan|last=Matthews|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/04/bret_stephens_first_new_york_times_column_is_classic_climate_change_denialism.html|title=Bret Stephens' First Column for the New York Times Is Classic Climate Change Denialism|newspaper=Slate|date=April 30, 2017|quote=That Stephens doesn't bother to cite which climate-change facts are uncertain may be because he knows exactly what he is doing, and he's aware he wouldn't win that argument. Or it may be because he himself has fallen prey to his own argument about epistemic uncertainty, and so he no longer thinks the evidence matters. Either way, his accusation—that it is not the facts you should question, but the entire system that creates facts at all—is terrifying.|access-date=May 3, 2017}}
{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/2017/05/04/climate-scientists-unite-against-new-york-times-columnist-bret-stephens/|title=Climate scientists unite against New York Times columnist Bret Stephens: The Times' climate-denying columnist made an error in his first column|newspaper=Salon.com|quote=There was particular concern that Stephens would import his penchant for climate science denialism into the Times, a fear that was validated when Stephens devoted his very first column to that subject|first=Matthew|last=Rozsa|date=May 4, 2017}}
|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/soft-climate-denial-at-the-new-york-times/
|title=Soft Climate Denial at The New York Times
|quote=The naming of a "climate agnostic" as a regular columnist risks turning the newspaper of record into a vehicle for the spread of ignorance
|website=Scientific American
|date=May 5, 2017}}
{{cite web|website=Media Matters for America|url=https://www.mediamatters.org/new-york-times/iraq-war-climate-change-sexual-assault-ny-times-new-op-ed-columnist-bret-stephens|title=From The Iraq War To Climate Change To Sexual Assault, NY Times' New Op-Ed Columnist, Bret Stephens, Is A Serial Misinformer|date=April 13, 2017}}
{{cite web|website=Time|date=February 26, 2017|title=Don't Dismiss President Trump's Attacks on the Media as Mere Stupidity|first=Bret|last=Stephens|url=https://time.com/4675860/donald-trump-fake-news-attacks/}}
{{cite web|website=Huffington Post|title=Hiring Another Anti-Trump Voice Expands Opinions Represented In Paper, New York Times Says: Bret Stephens won over progressive critics of the president, but his climate change views have sparked backlash.|first1=Michael|last1=Calderone|first2=Nick|last2=Baumann|date=April 15, 2017|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bret-stephens-new-york-times_n_58f12c80e4b0b9e9848bed3e}}
}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|1020322}}
{{PulitzerPrize Commentary 2001–2025}}
{{Authority control}}
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