Jeff Kuhner

{{Short description|Canadian-American political pundit (1969-)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Jeff Kuhner | image = Jeffrey Kuhner.jpg | image_size = 180px | caption = Kuhner speaking in 2010 | birth_name = Jeffrey Thomas Kuhner | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1969|9|1}} | birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | height = 6 ft. 3 in. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | employer = WRKO | occupation = Radio talk show host Commentator Journalist Professor and educator | spouse = Grazia ("Grace") Vuoto | children = 2 | alma_mater = Concordia University (B.A) Queens University (M.A.) Ohio University (doctoral studies) | citizenship = Canada USA (2016) | known_for = radio personality and commentator | parents = Jack Wendelin Kuhner }}

'''Jeffrey Thomas Kuhner''' (born 1 September 1969) is an American talk radio host and political commentator, heard on weekdays from 6 am to 10 am on WRKO AM 680 in Boston, Massachusetts.<ref>[http://www.wrko.com/kuhner-report Kuhner Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627164541/http://www.wrko.com/kuhner-report |date=27 June 2015 }} Retrieved 11 July 2015</ref> He was the editor of ''Insight on the News'' and a regular contributor to the commentary pages of ''The Washington Times'', and his articles have appeared in ''Human Events'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.humanevents.com/search.php?author_name=Jeffrey+T.+Kuhner |title=Jeffrey T. Kuhner: Conservative Articles – HUMAN EVENTS |access-date=1 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190206/http://www.humanevents.com/search.php?author_name=Jeffrey%20T.%20Kuhner |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''National Review Online'', and ''Investor's Business Daily''.

== Early life and education == Kuhner was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Croatian immigrant parents and graduated from Laval Catholic High School.

He received his undergraduate degree from Concordia University in Montreal and his master's degree from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Kuhner did PhD coursework at Ohio University in the United States but did not complete a dissertation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jeffrey Kuhner|url=http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/history/faculty/kuhner_j.html|publisher=McGill University|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000416172836/http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/history/faculty/kuhner_j.html|archivedate=16 April 2000 }}</ref>

== Career == Kuhner was an academic lecturer who taught Modern United States History at McGill University in Montreal, Canada from 1998 to 2000.<ref name="MCGILL REPORTER">Chester, Bronwyn. [https://www.reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/32/14/teaching/index.html "Teaching in the hotseat : Fruitful exchange on teaching"], ''McGill Reporter'', McGill University, Canada, April 6, 2000, Volume 32 Number 14. Accessed 22 October 2025.</ref>

In 2000, being disappointed by being offered only a one year extension to his appointment by the university and citing "the political correctness ... prevalent in academia" on his website, he left the university to become an assistant national editor at ''The Washington Times''.<ref name="MCGILL REPORTER"/> In 2003, he left the newspaper to work for the Republican policy group the Ripon Society as communications director of the ''Ripon Forum''.

Kuhner was the editor of the US news magazine website ''Insight on the News'' from October 2005 until its closing in May 2008. Simultaneously, Kuhner worked at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education-policy organization, as its communications director. He was president of the Edmund Burke Institute for American Renewal, a now-dormant Washington D.C. think tank devoted to integrating minorities into the conservative movement. Until January 2012, the Burke Institute produced an online monthly magazine, ''Reflections'', to which he regularly contributed.

In 2007, ''Insight on the News'' claimed that the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton planned to accuse rival Barack Obama of attending a madrasa.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick|first=David D.|title=Feeding Frenzy for a Big Story, Even if It's False|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/us/politics/29media.html?pagewanted=all|accessdate=30 November 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=29 January 2007}}</ref> ''Insight's'' story praised Obama's character in contrast to Hillary Clinton. Kuhner described Obama as "genteel, articulate, poised and charming. He is a Harvard-educated lawyer, yet he remains accessible to the common man."<ref>''Insight on the News'', editorial: "Washington Watch: Obama's fund-raising record reveals weakness of Hillary's campaign", 2007-7-1</ref> Five years later, however, Kuhner wrote in the ''Washington Times'': "President Obama's re-election was more than a victory for liberalism. It represented America's collective suicide—a national push into a fiscal, cultural and moral abyss. We are sliding toward Greece."<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuhner |first=By Jeffrey T. |title=America's pathway to decline |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/27/americas-pathway-to-decline/|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=27 December 2012}}</ref>

In October 2008, Kuhner wrote: "Moscow's main aim is to wrest the Crimean Peninsula from Kiev's control. A majority of the Crimea’s inhabitants are ethnic Russians. ... But Ukraine is not Georgia; it is a large, militarily powerful country with long memories of Russian domination. Any attempt at partition by Moscow would be met by fierce resistance. It would spark a bloody Russo-Ukrainian war. This would inevitably drag in Poland and the Baltic States – all of which are members of NATO. Mr. Putin’s bellicose nationalism threatens to ignite a European conflagration."<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuhner |first=Jeffrey T. |title=Will Russia-Ukraine be Europe's next war? |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/12/europes-next-war/ |newspaper=The Washington Times|date=12 October 2008}}</ref>

In May 2012, Kuhner wrote: "The center of world fascism is no longer Berlin, but Tehran. Iran's theocratic regime not only denies the Holocaust, it seeks to complete Hitler's Final Solution: the annihilation of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, Israel. This is why it is desperate to attain the bomb."<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuhner|first=Jeffrey T.|title=Obama's Holocaust revisionism|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/31/obamas-holocaust-revisionism|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=31 May 2012}}</ref>

Kuhner began his weekly column at ''The Washington Times'' in June 2008.<ref>His first column, "[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/08/commentary-at-cross-purposes/ At cross-purposes?]", appeared in the 8 June 2008 edition of ''The Washington Times''.</ref> In 2010, a Kuhner op-ed described Julian Assange as a terrorist threat and called for his assassination.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/2/assassinate-assange/|title=Assassinate Assange?|last=Kuhner|first=Jeffrey T.|date=2 Dec 2010|website=Washington Times|publisher=|access-date=2016-08-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/07/wash-times-no-longer-sure-assange-should-be-ass/174112|title=Wash. Times no longer sure Assange should be assassinated|website=Media Matters for America |date=2010-12-07|access-date=2016-08-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2010/12/07/lets-kill-julian-assange-wikileaks-and-the-power-of-patriotism/|title="Let's kill Julian Assange!" WikiLeaks and the power of patriotism|last=Ward|first=Stephen J. A.|date=2010-12-07|website=Center for Journalism Ethics|access-date=2016-08-10}}</ref> In September 2013, Kuhner criticized Barack Obama's support for Syrian rebels fighting government troops: "Mr. Obama’s decision ... to arm the rebels has created a dangerous security threat to America — and the Middle East. The reason is simple: U.S. weapons will inevitably fall into the hands of jihadist groups."<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuhner|first=Jeffrey T.|title=How Obama arms al Qaeda|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/20/kuhner-how-obama-arms-al-qaeda|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=20 September 2013}}</ref>

==Radio career== In November 2009, Kuhner became the host of ''The Kuhner Show'', on 570 WTNT in Washington, D.C. The show was canceled after WTNT became a sports station in September 2010. Kuhner began a regular feature on WRKO in Boston, called ''The Kuhner Report,'' in which he called into the WRKO Morning Show with reports on national politics. In 2012, he began hosting his own show on WRKO, still called ''The Kuhner Report.'' Initially, he had two disconnected morning hours;<ref>{{cite web|title=Jeff Kuhner takes over WRKO-AM 680 morning drive|url=http://www.wrko.com/jeff-kuhner-takes-over-wrko-am-680-morning-drive|publisher=WRKO|accessdate=11 January 2013|date=31 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121192824/http://www.wrko.com/jeff-kuhner-takes-over-wrko-am-680-morning-drive|archive-date=21 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> in October 2012, the show moved to the 6 to 10 am time slot,<ref>{{cite web|last=Kantor|first=Ira|title=WRKO taps Kuhner for morning drive, nixes Feinburg & McPhee|url=http://bostonherald.com/business/media_marketing/2012/10/wrko_taps_kuhner_morning_drive_nixes_feinburg_mcphee|website=Boston Herald|accessdate=11 January 2013|date=31 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102083741/http://bostonherald.com/business/media_marketing/2012/10/wrko_taps_kuhner_morning_drive_nixes_feinburg_mcphee|archive-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref> in July 2015, the show moved to the midday slot (noon to 3 pm) as WRKO stopped carrying Rush Limbaugh,<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/93455/wrko-sets-new-lineup-following-rush-departure/ Lance Venta: WRKO Sets New Lineup Following Rush Departure] Retrieved 11 July 2015</ref> and on 26 November 2018, the show moved back to morning drive time.

In September 2017, Kuhner confronted Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in the hallway of WRKO and said it was hypocritical to criticize the wealthiest "One Percent" of Americans in view of her own net worth.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-warren-confronted-over-her-one-percent-status Fox News: Democrat Warren confronted over her 'One Percent' status] Retrieved 22 September 2017</ref> Sen. Warren rebutted the charge.<ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2017/10/01/here-again-dark-money-pours-against-elizabeth-warren/TMx7wHpDLNUXsu18LWRgVJ/story.html Here we go again: Dark money pours in against Elizabeth Warren]; ''The Boston Globe''; Editorial Staff; 2 October 2017</ref>

Kuhner writes an occasional column on partisan politics called "Kuhner's Corner", carried on the WRKO website<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wrko.iheart.com/featured/kuhners-corner/|title=Kuhner's Columns - WRKO-AM 680}}</ref> and on local niche media such as the ''Boston Broadside.''

In addition to his own shows, Kuhner has guest-hosted ''The Howie Carr Show'' on WRKO, and syndicated programs ''The Mark Levin Show'' and ''The Savage Nation''.

==Personal life== Kuhner is married to Dr. Grazia ("Grace") Vuoto, a former editorial writer for ''The Washington Times''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/grace-vuoto/ |title=Staff - Grace Vuoto |newspaper=Washington Times |accessdate=1 December 2018}}</ref> and a former assistant professor of Modern British and European History at Howard University in Washington D.C. (2002-2006), Virginia Commonwealth University (2001-2002), and McGill University in Montreal, Canada (1996-2000).<REF NAME="GRAZIADOTTORE">[https://freepressinternational.org/columns/grace-vuoto/ "Profile: Dr. Grace Vuoto"], ''freepressinternational.org'', accessed 5 April 2020.</ref> She has hosted conservative talk shows on WBIX<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?693340-Crazy-Kuhner-s-wife-gets-her-own-daily-talk-show |title=Crazy Kuhner's wife gets her own daily talk show |publisher=radiodiscussions.com |accessdate=1 December 2018 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202070730/https://radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?693340-Crazy-Kuhner-s-wife-gets-her-own-daily-talk-show |url-status=bot: unknown }}()</ref> and WMEX, and has also been a content producer. She completed her Ph.D. thesis in 1999 under the supervision of Elizabeth Elbourne <REF NAME="ELBOURNE">[https://www.mcgill.ca/history/elizabeth-elbourne "Profile: Elizabeth Elbourne"], McGill University, Department of History and Classical Studies.</ref> at McGill University on the topic of Lord Salisbury, "revising the existing historiography by demonstrating that Salisbury's Christian faith was a central feature of his approach to diplomatic and imperial affairs".<REF NAME="GRACEPHD">[https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/fn1070843 Vuoto, Grazia. "The Imperial Ideas of Lord Salisbury, 1851-1902." Thesis (Ph.D.), 1999. McGill University.]</ref> Dr. Vuoto now works as a real estate salesperson, is a writer and columnist, and also raises their two children.

Grace often calls into ''The Kuhner Report radio show,'' identified as "Doctor Grace / Putting Liberals in their place" though Kuhner typically drops hints after the call that the caller is his wife and that he "definitely married up".

The couple have two children, Ashton and Ava, who figure as examples in many of Kuhner's presentations.

Kuhner was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in the summer of 2016.

Jeff Kuhner's father, Jack Wendelin Kuhner, passed away in Montreal, Canada on December 30, 2024 and his funeral Mass was held at St. Nicholas Church in Montreal. Jack Kuhner worked for Velan Inc. which was a manufacturer of high grade industrial valves. He was one of their first field sales technicians, traveling all over the world.<ref>[https://velan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Velan-Pictorial-History.pdf "Velan Pictorial History"], ''Velan Incorporated'', 2015. Cf. p.55</ref>

==References== {{Wikiquote}} {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhner, Jeffrey T.}} Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:American online publication editors Category:American magazine editors Category:American newspaper editors Category:American people of Croatian descent Category:Canadian people of Croatian descent Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Academic staff of McGill University Category:The Washington Times people Category:National Review people Category:People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Category:People from Montreal Category:Radio personalities from Washington, D.C. Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni Category:Ohio University alumni Category:Massachusetts Republicans Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States