Jim Hoft is a conservative writer and speaker based out of St. Louis, Missouri. He is well known for founding The Gateway Pundit. ^{[1] [undefined] [undefined]}

Jim Hoft is a lifelong resident of St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. ^[undefined]

Jim Hoft began his career working in biology and chemistry. He has researched microbes at the source of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca. He later worked as a corporate executive managing human resources. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

Jim Hoft first became interested in conservative news and blogs in 2004.

Over the course of the 2004 presidential election, Hoft came to believe that the mainstream media was heavily biased against George W. Bush. He then began reading conservative blogs which he felt covered conservatives much more fairly and accurately. Hoft described how reading conservative blogs was “like reading a different language” than the coverage published by the mainstream media. After becoming an avid reader of conservative blogs, Hoft was inspired to create his own conservative blog, which he named The Gateway Pundit since he is a lifelong resident of St. Louis, Missouri which is famous for their Gateway Arch monument. ^[undefined]

Hoft started The Gateway Pundit in November 2004, shortly after George W. Bush was reelected as President of the United States. The site’s original readers were Hoft’s friends and family, but he persisted – writing on a daily basis – until he was able to build a following. ^[undefined]

In 2005, Hoft caught his first big break when The Gateway Pundit’s tsunami coverage was heralded by blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin. She linked The Gateway Pundit to her blog, bringing many new readers to Hoft’s site. ^[undefined]

In the years between The Gateway Pundit’s 2004 launch and the 2016 election cycle, Hoft developed a friendship with the late Andrew Breitbart and Breitbart's protégé, Steven Bannon. Hoft had a role in the production of Hating Breitbart, a 2012 documentary that presented Breitbart and his revolutionary new website, then called Big Journalism, to the world. ^[undefined]

The Gateway Pundit's popularity grew rapidly during the 2016 presidential election as a result of their early and continued support of Donald Trump. In 2016, they also hired Lucian Wintrich who was well known for starting the Twinks for Trump movement. During the election, The Gateway Pundit reached as many as 1 million visitors per day. Trump has retweeted The Gateway Pundit articles more than two dozen times. ^{[undefined] [11][12]}

In February 2017, after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, Hoft and Wintrich were granted White House press credentials. By 2017, The Gateway Pundit was reaching 15 million visitors monthly. ^{[undefined] [7][12]}

As a result of his contributions to the field of alternative media, Hoft received the Reed Irvine Award for New Media on March 5, 2013 and the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism on May 1, 2015. ^{[undefined] [undefined] [undefined]}

The Gateway Pundit has been accused by Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog, of spreading false information on more than twenty occasions. Many of the incidents involve publishing incorrect suspect names and information during mass shootings. ^{[undefined] [12]}

When asked by The Washington Post in February 2018, if The Gateway Pundit spread false information, Hoft denied the allegations. “Our track record is comparable or better than mainstream media,” he wrote. For example? “We didn’t fall for the false Trump-Russia collusion scandal.” ^[undefined]

In February 2018, Hoft was scheduled to participate in a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) panel titled "Social Media Censorship." However CPAC, preemptively removed Hoft from the discussion on censorship following his coverage of the recent Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Hoft stated that CPAC was in effect engaging in its own form of censorship. ^[undefined]

American Principles Project's executive director, Terry Schilling, said Wednesday that Hoft was pulled from the lineup after The Gateway Pundit suggested without evidence that students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were coached to criticize President Donald Trump's response to the shooting. ^[undefined]

“The reason that Jim Hoft is not allowed to be on this panel is because of his unfair and distracting coverage of the Florida shooting," Schilling said.

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Hoft claimed that CPAC had moved to "censor" his voice by canceling his participation.

APP later announced the event would go on without him.

APP later cancelled the event after Pamela Geller, one of the panelists, refused to remove Hoft from the panel. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

Jim Hoft publicly came out as gay on June 13, 2016 after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. Hoft, who previously kept his sexuality private, said it’s time for gays to “come home” to the Republican Party, after Omar Mateen killed at least 49 people and injured more than 50 others at Pulse Orlando a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

“After the deadliest Islamist attack on American soil since 9-11 Barack Obama blamed hatred and guns,” he wrote. “His inability to [call] the attack what it is — Islamic jihad — has progressed from denial to psychosis. It’s never been more apparent than Sunday, when Barack was comparing the Pulse club attack to a movie theater shooting by a schizophrenic, that our poor president has lost his own grasp of reality.” ^{[undefined] [16]}

Mr. Hoft blasted “leftwing gay activists” such as Sally Kohn and Perez Hilton for focusing their blame on Christianity and the National Rifle Association. ^[undefined]

“I came out in the 1980s to family and friends during the AIDS epidemic. I saw a lot of friends get sick. I saw a lot of friends die. I went to a lot of funerals,” Mr. Hoft wrote. “It was a scary time to be gay. ^[undefined]

“Like most gay Americans, I don’t wear my sexuality on my sleeve.

I go about my daily business.

I try not to harm anyone.

I love my family.

I love my friends.

I love my country,” he continued.

“I’ve been a conservative activist for years.

But today I’m coming out as a conservative gay activist.

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“I created The Gateway Pundit because I wanted to speak the truth.

I wanted to expose the wickedness of the left,” he wrote.

“I can no longer remain silent as my gay brothers and sisters are being slaughtered at dance clubs.”

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Mr. Hoft declared that there is only one presidential candidate who would protect gays from another Islamist attack.

“There is only one man who can lead this nation and protect all gays and all Americans.

His name is Donald Trump,” he wrote.

“I pray that gays will come back home to the Republican Party — no more death.

Dear God, please no more death.”

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