Erick Stakelbeck (born January 21, 1976) is an American television host and presenter ofStakelbeck Tonight onTBN andThe Watchman Newscast onYouTube.[1][2] As aChristian Zionist,[3][4] his previousThe Watchman show was sponsored byChristians United for Israel,[5] Stakelbeck being the director of its Watchman Project.[6] Stakelbeck has also been noted as an investigative reporter and author onradical Islam,[7][8][9] and is TBN's news director.[10]
Stakelbeck worked as a senior writer and analyst atthe Investigative Project on Terrorism from 2003 to 2005, and his articles appeared in several newspapers.[13] From 2005 he worked as a television correspondent, host and analyst forCBN News, where he covered "U.S. national security, the Middle East, Israel-related issues and the growth of radical Islam at home and abroad."[13] He hosted the showStakelbeck on Terror on CBN from 2010,[14][15] andThe Watchman from 2013.[16] He has also been a regular contributor and guest host onThe Blaze TV, and a regular guest on severalFox News shows.[12] He received the Ben Hecht Award for Outstanding Journalism from theZionist Organization of America in 2014,[12] and a media "Truth" award from theEndowment for Middle East Truth in 2015.[17]
Stakelbeck began hostingThe Watchman on TBN in 2016.[5] For his show, he has travelled throughout Israel, reporting from the borders of Gaza, Syria and Lebanon, and interviewing senior Israeli leaders.[3][11] He regularly highlights Israel's "strategic predicament", noting its proximity to radical Islamic terror groups such asHezbollah andHamas at its borders.[3] He also focuses on biblicalend times prophecy, believing that "we live in prophetic times", and that "the miraculous rebirth of Israel ... set the prophetic time clock into overdrive".[18] He additionally became a correspondent for TBN's newCenterpoint, a nightly news and analysis program in 2022,[19] and host of the new showStakelbeck Tonight in 2024[20] which replacedThe Watchman.[1]
Stakelbeck recorded an exclusive interview with Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu in 2022,[2][21] and with then-former US president and presidential candidateDonald Trump in 2024.[22]
He has stated his view that "theLeft seesIslam as an ally andWestern Civilization and theJudeo-Christian tradition is the enemy" and that Islam and the Left "have a shared hatred for this country".[29] He also claims that there is a "concerted effort by Islamists to infiltrate the very heartland of American society" and that American Muslims are engaged in "stealth" or "civilizational"jihad to imposeSharia in the US.[23]
