Lawrence B. Jones

Lawrence Billy Jones III (born December 10, 1992) is an American libertarian political commentator, author and a current co-host of the weekday edition of Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel.[1] He came to prominence in 2015 for raising money for a pizza shop that refused to cater a gay wedding.[2] He served as host of Lawrence Jones Cross Country from 2022–2023.

Lawrence B. Jones
Jones in 2018
Born
Lawrence Billy Jones III

(1992-12-10) December 10, 1992
Garland, Texas, U.S.
EducationUniversity of North Texas (BA)
Occupation(s)Radio host, television host, commentator
EmployerFox News
Political partyLibertarian
Websitehttps://www.lawrencejones.com/

Early life

Jones was raised by his mother, Tameria and father, Lawrence Jones II. Jones has stated that he served as "youth mayor" of Garland, Texas in 2009.[3] He graduated from Garland High School in 2011[4] and studied political science and criminal justice at the University of North Texas.[5][6]

Career

Jones was hired as student advocate in the Garland Independent School District, becoming their youngest employee.[4][7] When he was 19, he ran for a seat on the school board for this district, but lost the election.[3] He served two years as a board member for Dallas County Child Welfare.[8][9] In 2012, Jones was on the Garland Parks and Recreation Board.[10] In 2013, he was named Activist of the Year by FreedomWorks.[8] That year, he went undercover for Project Veritas, a conservative organization founded by James O'Keefe known for publishing deceptively edited videos, for the purpose of exposing allegations of fraud among vendors who enrolled individuals in the healthcare marketplace of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[3]

In April 2015, Jones created a fundraiser for Memories Pizza, a pizza shop in Indiana that closed after receiving backlash when its owners said they would refuse to cater a gay wedding if asked. The fundraiser raised $844,000 for the family, which was used in part for bills and partly donated to charity and the owner's church.[11][12]

He hosts The Lawrence Jones Show on TheBlaze Radio Network. He was previously a contributor to conservative television show Dana, hosted by Dana Loesch on Blaze Media.[13][2]

In February 2018, he became editor-in-chief of the conservative website Campus Reform.[14][15]

Jones considers himself to be Libertarian.[6]

Fox News

In May 2018, Jones claimed on Fox News that, because ESPN personality Jemele Hill was unemployed, she therefore did not deserve a journalism award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and that the NABJ was seeking to "applaud unemployment."[15]

In April 2019, Jones wore a small bulletproof vest during a Fox News segment where he was at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas. He was subsequently mocked online, and a number of journalists who routinely cover the border region said they have never used protective gear in the course of the reporting. In his next appearance on Fox News, Jones wore a larger vest and said that the U.S. Border Patrol had told him to wear a bulletproof vest for his safety.[16][17][18]

In July 2019, Jones blamed the Barack Obama Administration for a lenient plea deal that sex offender and accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein received in 2008, incorrectly asserting that Obama was president at the time.[19]

In October 2019, Jones relocated to New York City after it was announced that he had been promoted to a regular substitute host and co-host role at Fox News.[20] In 2022, he began hosting Lawrence Jones Cross Country on the network, in the former time slot of Justice with Judge Jeanine.[21]

At the end of April 2023, Jones was selected to host Fox News Tonight for the week of May 1, the 8pm time slot on Fox News, serving as a temporary replacement for Tucker Carlson on filling the cancelled Tucker Carlson Tonight slot, following Fox's decision to part ways with Tucker Carlson.[22][23] He helmed the program again for the week of June 26, 2023.

On September 14, 2023, Fox News announced that Jones had been named a permanent co-host of Fox & Friends which saw Jones relinquish his weekend program.[24]

References
  1. "Fox News to Announce Lawrence Jones as New 'Fox & Friends' Co-Host". Peoplemag. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  2. Moyer, Justin Wm. (April 6, 2016). "Conservative commentator Lawrence B. Jones behind crowdfunding for Ind. pizza shop that won't cater gay wedding". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  3. Nicholson, Eric (November 14, 2013). "Meet Lawrence B. Jones III, the UNT Student Behind the Obamacare-Navigator Sting". Dallas Observer. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  4. Howard, Greg (January 20, 2012). "Just a Year After Graduating From Garland ISD, He Wants to Help Run the School District". Dallas Observer. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  5. "Lawrence Billy Jones III". Ballotpedia.
  6. Breeding, Lucinda (July 22, 2020). "Black, Libertarian & curious: Fox contributor studied at UNT". Denton Record-Chronicle. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  7. "About". Lawrence B. Jones. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  8. Bodnar, Jackie (September 29, 2014). "FreedomWorks Announces 2013 Activist of the Year: Lawrence Jones". FreedomWorks. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  9. Commissioner's Court Agenda (PDF) (Report). The County of Dallas. January 29, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 30, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  10. "Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board". Recreation Board of the City of Garland, Texas. December 5, 2012. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  11. Murphy, Doyle (April 1, 2015). "Donors raise cash for Indiana pizza shop's gay marriage slap". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  12. Tynan, Dan (April 6, 2015). "The $800,000 Windfall for Memories Pizza: It Started as a Joke". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  13. Golgowski, Nina (April 3, 2015). "Over $750K raised for Memories Pizza after anti-gay backlash". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  14. "Lawrence Jones". Campus Reform. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  15. "'Fox & Friends' guest says Jemele Hill isn't worthy of award because she's unemployed. (She's not.)". The Washington Post. 2018.
  16. "A Fox News Contributor Was Mocked For Wearing What Looked Like A Tiny Bulletproof Vest At The Border". BuzzFeed News. April 5, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  17. "Fox News contributor mocked for wearing 'totally ridiculous' body armor at the border". The Washington Post. 2019.
  18. "Fox News contributor wears protective vest at the border – among the safest spots in the U.S." The Mercury News. April 5, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  19. Rupar, Aaron (July 10, 2019). "One day encapsulated everything that's wrong with Fox News". Vox. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  20. "Media Relations". Fox News. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  21. "Lawrence Jones goes 'Cross Country' to expose historic crime wave". Fox News. January 29, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  22. Katie Hawkinson (April 29, 2023). "Lawrence Jones Named Tucker Carlson's Next Temporary Replacement". Daily Beast.
  23. Ted Johnson (April 28, 2023). "Lawrence Jones Will Host 'Fox News Tonight' Next Week; Show Edges Win In Total Viewers On Thursday, MSNBC's 'All In With Chris Hayes' Takes Demo". Deadline.com.
  24. Steinberg, Brian (September 14, 2023). "Lawrence Jones to Join 'Fox & Friends' as Co-Host". Variety. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.