Steve Deace | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Deace in 2022 | |
| Born | Steven James Deace (1973-07-28)July 28, 1973 (age 52) Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. |
| Education | Michigan State University (attended) |
| Political party | Independent[1] |
| Spouse | |
Steven James Deace (born July 28, 1973) is an Americanconservative talk show host[2][3][4][5] and author. His programThe Steve Deace Show is on theBlaze Media platform.
Deace was born Steven James McNeely on July 28, 1973 to Vickie McNeely, who was 14 years old and not married at the time. She went on to raise him and one other child as a single mother in theGrand Rapids, Michigan area.[3] McNeely later married when Deace was three years old. Although he was not formally adopted, Deace bears his stepfather's surname. He attendedMichigan State University in the early 1990s but later dropped out of school.[3]
Deace's first job was as a sports reporter forThe Des Moines Register. He then hosted a sports talk show onKXNO (AM) and later an evening drive talk show onWHO (AM).[3] While at WHO, Deace endorsed and gave airtime to the Republican presidential candidateMike Huckabee during the2008 Iowa caucuses, which helped Huckabee win the state's presidential primary.[4] In 2010, he helped the successful campaign to defeat three members of theIowa Supreme Court who approvedsame-sex marriage.[3]
Deace left WHO in early 2011 to launch a nationally-syndicated radio program,The Steve Deace Show, on the Truth Radio Network. Later that year,Salem Radio Network picked up his program and moved it to primetime.[4]
During the2012 election, Deace was a major critic of Republican nomineeMitt Romney. Citing Romney's changing positions on numerous political issues, Deace did not support Romney in either the primary or the general elections that year.[6]
Deace endorsedTed Cruz for president in 2016 and worked as a senior campaign operative in Iowa for Cruz's presidential campaign. In February 2016, Cruz would go on to win theIowa caucuses. After Cruz dropped out of the race in May 2016, he posted a voter registration form with a check mark next to "no party" in response to calls for Republican unity behindDonald Trump and his presidential campaign.[1] When Ted Cruz endorsed Trump in September 2016, Deace said that it was "the worst political miscalculation of my lifetime.”[7][8] He went on to vote for theConstitution Party's candidate,Darrell Castle, in the general election.[9]
In 2017, Deace's program moved toCRTV, a conservative streaming platform.[10] Later that year, he defendedSteve Bannon's role in the White House and argued that it would be a mistake for Trump to fire Bannon because of the signal it would send to conservatives.[11] In 2018, his program moved toBlazeTV after CRTV merged with it.[12]
During the2020 election, Deace announced he was voting for Trump.[13] When it appeared that Joe Biden was defeating Trump, Deacecast doubt about the validity of the vote in swing states and said, "When you went to bed Trump was ahead and the counting miraculously stopped. When you woke up it resumed, with Biden garnering Chavez-like totals in the dead of night. This is a coup."[14]
Deace is aCOVID-19 vaccine skeptic, believing it to be part of a “depopulation scheme”.[15] He has referred to vaccines as "poison".[16]
In August 2023, Deace endorsed Florida GovernorRon DeSantis in the2024 presidential primary.[17]
He and his wife, Amy, have three children. Deace is a Christian and converted in 2003 after attending aPromise Keepers rally.[3]
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