menu_open Columnists
Ben Clerkin

Ben Clerkin

The Spectator

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Muzzleloader season

Climbing into the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia with a muzzleloader slung over my shoulder was a journey back in time. This was the gun that the...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Can the US Navy really defend the Strait of Hormuz?

Can the US Navy really defend the Strait of Hormuz?

George W. Bush’s war haunts Donald Trump, who is now calling the Iranian operation a “little excursion”. But Iran differs from Iraq in one...

11.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Like that poor dog, Kristi Noem turned out to be untrainable

Like that poor dog, Kristi Noem turned out to be untrainable

When Kristi Noem disclosed she once shot the family dog, Cricket, because Cricket was “untrainable”, the world wrote her off as unfit to be Donald...

06.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Did Israel bounce the US into war?

Operation Epic Fury has developed from a war to deprive Iran of nuclear weapons into a political war of blame. “We knew that there was going to be...

03.03.2026 4

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Release the Gonzales files

We know the terrible details of how congressional staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, died. She poured gasoline on herself and then flicked the flame on...

25.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Family man / Is James Fishback the right’s answer to Zohran Mamdani?

“First and foremost, I think Zohran and I are two good-looking guys in our thirties.” James Fishback, the controversial Republican running for...

24.02.2026 40

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Is James Fishback the right’s answer to Zohran Mamdani?

“First and foremost, I think Zohran and I are two good-looking guys in our thirties.” James Fishback, the controversial Republican running for...

21.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Is James Fishback the right’s answer to Zohran Mamdani?

“First and foremost, I think Zohran and I are two good-looking guys in our thirties.” James Fishback, the controversial Republican running for...

21.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Mamdani’s People’s Republic of New York

Proudly displayed in the window of my local Barnes and Noble are copies of a children’s book called Zohran Walks New York. It’s a graphic novel...

19.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Tom Homan is Minnesota’s good cop

In announcing an end to the ICE surge in Minnesota, Tom Homan has become for Democrats an unlikely good cop to Kristi Noem’s bad. But the double-act...

13.02.2026 60

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Facts, unlike opinions, are hard to come by in Minneapolis

26.01.2026 10

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin

Ukrainians think Trump is putting the screws on Zelensky

21.11.2025 7

The Spectator

Ben Clerkin