Kat Timpf Dishes on Why Some Fox News Viewers Hate Her

Being a pregnant libertarian who doesn’t always toe the party line on Fox News comes with its own special breed of internet trolls. During a recent appearance on the podcast Sword Fight with Nikki & Jim Norton, Gutfeld! panelist Kat Timpf revealed the peculiar world of viewer backlash she navigates daily. The conversation exposed how her refusal to echo predictable conservative talking points has spawned dedicated haters, including some accounts whose sole purpose is “tweeting stuff” at her.

“When I sit down in that chair, I know already what the vast majority of the audience wants to hear me say. It’s not hard to figure that out,” Timpf explained. “I would make more money, I’m sure. I would sell out every show… But it would be easier to just, I couldn’t do that. I just, I wouldn’t want to do that.”

The pushback comes from multiple directions. In a September Variety profile, Timpf addressed her outsider status, revealing that some venues have refused to host her comedy shows simply because of her Fox News association. “It really doesn’t make sense to me,” she noted. “Fox is not an idea. It’s a platform on which to share ideas.”

The self-described libertarian, who’s currently expecting her first child, faces particularly harsh criticism from socially conservative viewers. Their attempts to shame her often backfire spectacularly. “They’ll try to insult me by saying things like, ‘she dated a lot of people before she got married,’” Timpf shared on Sword Fight. “In order for me to be offended by that, I need to be bothered by the fact that I did that, instead of thinking that was awesome.”

The criticism has taken bizarre turns, including fabricated stories about her family. Timpf recounted one incident where a viewer claimed to have messages from her HR-professional sister about past relationships. “If you can show that you were speaking to my sister, I will Venmo you $10,000,” she challenged.

Her recent pregnancy has sparked another wave of judgment, particularly from female critics. “The meanest people to me about being pregnant are other women,” Timpf revealed, citing criticism about everything from her maternity wardrobe choices to her continued use of colorful language while expecting.

Timpf’s latest book, I Used to Like You Until…: (How Binary Thinking Divides Us), directly confronts this culture of snap judgments. The cover features her covered only in hate mail, symbolizing her vulnerability in the face of criticism. “That’s why I say binary thinking is the enemy of critical thinking,” she explained to Variety. “Because once we have a side that we’ve chosen, then you don’t have to think — the thinking has already been done for you.”

Despite the backlash, Timpf maintains friendships across the political spectrum and refuses to be pigeonholed. She’s neither MAGA nor Never Trump and said she planned to vote third party in the presidential election. As she puts it, “I just know that no matter who wins, the other side is going to blame me for the loss because I didn’t vote for either one.”