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Lawrence B. Jones

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

(1992-12-10) December 10, 1992 (age 31)
Garland, Texas, U.S.
EducationUniversity of North Texas (BA)
Occupation(s)Radio host, television host, commentator
EmployerFox News
Political partyLibertarian
Websitehttps://www.lawrencejones.com/

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 served as host of Lawrence Jones Cross Country from 2022–2023. Jones, 31, is the youngest Black American to co-host on a cable news network.[1]

Early life

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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.[2] He graduated from Garland High School in 2011[3] and studied political science and criminal justice at the University of North Texas.[4][5]

Career

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Jones was hired as student advocate in the Garland Independent School District, becoming their youngest employee.[3][6] When he was 19, he ran for a seat on the school board for this district, but lost the election.[2] He served two years as a board member for Dallas County Child Welfare.[7][8] In 2012, Jones was on the Garland Parks and Recreation Board.[9] In 2013, he was named Activist of the Year by FreedomWorks.[7] That year, he went undercover for Project Veritas, a conservative organization founded by James O'Keefe known for publishing deceptively edited videos,[10] 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.[2]

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.[citation needed] He was previously a contributor to conservative television show Dana, hosted by Dana Loesch on Blaze Media.[13][14]

In February 2018, he became editor-in-chief of the conservative website Campus Reform.[15][16]

Jones considers himself to be Libertarian.[5]

Fox News

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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."[16]

In April 2019, Jones wore a small bulletproof vest during a Fox News segment where he was at the Mexico–United States 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.[17][18][19]

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.[20]

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.[21] In 2022, he began hosting Lawrence Jones Cross Country on the network, in the former time slot of Justice with Judge Jeanine.[22]

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.[23][24] 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 and his weekend program was replaced with a program hosted by Brian Kilmeade.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b Chamlee, Virginia (September 14, 2023). "Fox News to Announce Lawrence Jones as New 'Fox & Friends' Co-Host". People. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Nicholson, Eric (November 14, 2013). "Meet Lawrence B. Jones III, the UNT Student Behind the Obamacare-Navigator Sting". Dallas Observer. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  3. ^ a b 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.
  4. ^ "Lawrence Billy Jones III". Ballotpedia.
  5. ^ a b Breeding, Lucinda (July 22, 2020). "Black, Libertarian & curious: Fox contributor studied at UNT". Denton Record-Chronicle. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  6. ^ "About". Lawrence B. Jones. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Bodnar, Jackie (September 29, 2014). "FreedomWorks Announces 2013 Activist of the Year: Lawrence Jones". FreedomWorks. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ Choi, Joseph (April 14, 2021). "Matt Gaetz makes six-figure ad buy targeting CNN amid sex trafficking allegations". The Hill. Retrieved July 14, 2024. Project Veritas is known for publishing undercover sting footage that has been deceptively edited to reflect badly on organizations and people it disagrees with.
  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! Tech. 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. ^ 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. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  15. ^ "Lawrence Jones". Campus Reform. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Bonesteel, Matt (May 22, 2018). "'Fox & Friends' guest says Jemele Hill isn't worthy of award because she's unemployed. (She's not.)". The Washington Post.
  17. ^ Hernandez, Salvador (April 5, 2019). "A Fox News Contributor Was Mocked For Wearing What Looked Like A Tiny Bulletproof Vest At The Border". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  18. ^ Horton, Alex (April 4, 2019). "Fox News contributor mocked for wearing 'totally ridiculous' body armor at the border". The Washington Post.
  19. ^ Horton, Alex (April 5, 2019). "Fox News contributor wears protective vest at the border – among the safest spots in the U.S." The Mercury News. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  20. ^ Rupar, Aaron (July 10, 2019). "One day encapsulated everything that's wrong with Fox News". Vox. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  21. ^ "Media Relations". Fox News (Press release). October 30, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  22. ^ "Lawrence Jones goes 'Cross Country' to expose historic crime wave". Fox News. January 29, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  23. ^ Hawkinson, Katie (April 29, 2023). "Lawrence Jones Named Tucker Carlson's Next Temporary Replacement". The Daily Beast.
  24. ^ Johnson, Ted (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 Hollywood.
  25. ^ Steinberg, Brian (September 14, 2023). "Lawrence Jones to Join 'Fox & Friends' as Co-Host". Variety. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
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