Tara Setmayer

Tara Setmayer is a CNN Political Commentator, ABC News Political Contributor and former GOP communications director on Capitol Hill. Setmayer is a 2020 Harvard Institute of Politics Resident Fellow and Senior Advisor for The Lincoln Project. She is currently the host of "Honestly Speaking with Tara," podcast. Tara often appears on CNN's prime time programs and contributes to ABC's Good Morning America, Nightline. and guest hosts The View. She's also made numerous appearances on HBO's Real Time w/Bill Maher. Prior to joining ABC, Tara became a household name for her no nonsense commentary as a CNN political commentator during the 2016 presidential election cycle where Vulture.com recognized her as one of 2016's "Top 20 Election Coverage Stars" on TV. In 2017, Tara was named as a Board Director for Stand Up Republic, a non profit organization formed in the wake of the 2016 election of Donald Trump to unite Americans behind the defense of democratic norms, ideals and institutions. Tara's also written for Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast and CNN.com and has guest-hosted on SiriusXM's Patriot and POTUS channels including The Michael Smerconish Program and Steele and Unger. Tara focuses her "tell it like it is" commentary and analysis on political issues that impact America's future. Having worked as the Communications Director for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) for seven years, she successfully led the national effort to free unjustly imprisoned Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean through a presidential commutation issued by President George W. Bush on his last working day in office. In addition to her communications duties for Rep. Rohrabacher, Setmayer handled policy issues on immigration and federal law enforcement. Prior to becoming an CNN political contributor, Setmayer was already a seasoned media commentator appearing on various national television programs on Fox News Channel, ABC, HBO, PBS and C-SPAN. For over 10 years, Setmayer was a regular panelist on the women's issues program "To The Contrary" on PBS. She has been featured in several local and national publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Hill Newspaper, Politico and Ebony magazine and has appeared on numerous radio programs across the country including ABC Radio Networks, NPR and SiriusXM Radio. In 2010, Setmayer was selected for The Hill Newspaper's "50 Most Beautiful" annual list in Washington, DC. For over two years, Setmayer served as a community liaison advocating on a variety of issues including affordable housing and services for the chronically homeless and children in South Florida where she co-founded a faith-based homeless program with her mother. Setmayer also served as a former research fellow and communications specialist for the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education (CURE), a non-profit organization that provides national dialogue on how social policies impact America's inner cities and the poor.