The American Spectator media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give The American Spectator one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Right; Ad Fontes Media: Far right; Media Bias/Fact Check: Right. We have seen it on 8 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is The American Spectator biased?
The rating organisations do not give The American Spectator one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Right; Ad Fontes Media: Far right; Media Bias/Fact Check: Right. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is The American Spectator left or right?
The rating organisations do not give The American Spectator one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Right; Ad Fontes Media: Far right; Media Bias/Fact Check: Right. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Right.
Is The American Spectator reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for The American Spectator are Media Bias/Fact Check: Mixed factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What The American Spectator has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with The American Spectator’s own report linked underneath.
The Trump administration is drafting a rule to allow married couples with a stay-at-home spouse to receive child care subsidies. The proposal would redirect funds from a program intended for working parents and is championed by Vice President JD Vance.
The American Spectator reported it asA Convoluted Scheme to Pay Parents to Stay at Home – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
Ryan Reynolds described the 1980s as a "brutal, brutal time" while promoting his new film. Spencer Pratt responded on X, calling Reynolds' comments "stupid crap" and suggesting they alienate "normal Americans."
The American Spectator reported it asRyan Reynolds Says the 1980s Were ‘Brutal.’ He Couldn’t Be More Wrong – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
Natalie Harp, a close aide to Donald Trump known as his 'human printer', has become a focus of media attention after a Democratic senator mocked their relationship. Reports describe her role in printing articles and social media posts for Trump, while her estranged brother calls her dedication unhealthy.
The American Spectator reported it asOssoff Plays the Sexist Card – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
US Senator Jon Ossoff criticised Donald Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp in a campaign speech, calling her part of the president’s detachment from leadership. The White House responded with personal insults, while Harp’s influence and proximity to Trump drew scrutiny from outlets across the political spectrum.
The American Spectator reported it asOssoff Plays the Sexist Card – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
Interim Sen. Darline Graham, appointed after her brother Lindsey Graham’s death, said during a debate that national security is ‘not my thing’. The comment came in response to a question about Taiwan and the South China Sea, and has drawn criticism from her opponent’s supporters ahead of the 25 August runoff.
The American Spectator reported it asDarline Graham Nardone Needs to Step Aside. She Probably Won’t. – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
Ghent University suspended Nathan Cofnas, a researcher who accused the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday of plagiarism, after opening a disciplinary inquiry. Cofnas, who describes himself as a 'race realist', was previously dismissed from Cambridge in 2024. Arday died in mid-August amid the allegations.
The American Spectator reported it asThe Spectacle Ep. 455: No Tears Shed For Jason Arday – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor and former Bush adviser, is the early frontrunner to replace outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, though multiple sources say the selection process remains open. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles met Jennings at a Washington steakhouse, but other names, including Natalie Harp, are also under consideration.
The American Spectator reported it asKaroline Leavitt Stepping Down As White House Press Secretary – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Tuesday on advancing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination after Republican senators secured written assurances that a $1.8 billion fund tied to the Trump-IRS settlement would not proceed. Democrats argue the guarantees fall short of permanent protections.
The American Spectator reported it asTillis and Cornyn Kill the ‘Justice Fund.’ Long Live the Judgment Fund! – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics (opens The American Spectator in a new tab)
Who says so
3 organisations have published a rating for this outlet, in their own words. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
How reliably it reports fact
A rating of the newsroom in general, by others, and a different thing from the Trust score we publish on each story, which judges one piece of reporting.
Mixed factuality
- Media Bias/Fact CheckmixedCheck it
Who owns it
We hold no ownership record for The American Spectator.
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Alexandria, Virginia, United States
- Official site
- spectator.org
- Seen publishing on
- spectator.org
- Access
- Free to read
- Wikipedia
- Entry
What we have seen ourselves
Counted across the stories this site has published, which is the only denominator a reader can check: every one of them has a page, and every page lists the reports it was written from.
- Stories
- 8
- Reports listed
- 8
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 5 August 2026
8 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 0 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 2 of those stories, outlets rated right were largely absent from the coverage and The American Spectator ran the story anyway.
Across the 8 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of The American Spectator: its report arrived a median of 4 days after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 20 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 11 September 2026. Ratings pulled 8 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as The American Spectator, also publishing from United States, ordered by how often we have seen them on a story. Sharing a rating is not the same as being alike.
Think this page is wrong?
The leanings above are published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and we republish them rather than make them. If you think one is misapplied, the strongest place to say so is with the organisation that made it, and every verdict here links to their page.
What we are responsible for is everything else: the ownership chain, where The American Spectator publishes from, which of our stories we have listed it on, and whether we have the right publisher at all. Tell us what is wrong and an editor reads it.
Report something wrong on this page
Anything we correct is written up in the public corrections log. We do not publish reader votes as a rating, because an unattributed rating is the thing this site exists to argue against.
Every rating on this page is a named third party’s published work, republished with its author and, where one exists, a link to it. Our own coverage record is the section we measure ourselves. Neither is a judgement of any individual report: those are scored story by story, and the reasoning is on our methodology page.