Brianna Lyman

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Previously, she worked at The Daily Caller covering media bias and politics. Brianna is a frequent on-air commentator at Fox News, Fox Business, Newsmax, CNN, and various other outlets. She earned her B.A. in International Political Economy from Fordham University. She is an avid reader and American history enthusiast.

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What is your current position?

I am a reporter at The Federalist and weekly guest on Fox News, Fox Business, and CNN.

What inspired you to choose this career path?

I am passionate about America and understand that people vote based on what they think they know. Helping Americans get the truth and see through the left-wing spin on current political events ideally helps Americans make more informed voting decisions. 

What are you currently working on?

My current passion-project is Countdown To Freedom, a video series that runs each weekday covering this day in 1776, leading up to the Declaration of Independence. 

How did you hear about the Claremont Institute?

My colleagues at The Federalist. 

What is your fondest memory of the Claremont Institute?

This is a difficult question to answer because I was very fortunate to love my cohort and we all bonded extremely well, which made our lectures much more interesting since it felt like a big group discussion and not independent study. I think as a group, we all really enjoyed Peterson’s lectures and Munoz’s lectures because we had the chance to talk to the professors in depth both during and after the lecture. If it comes to extracurricular activities – the Fourth of July boat party! Lots of fun to spend the best holiday with the most patriotic group of Americans!

There are all sorts of educational programs out there for current and rising conservative professionals.  What do you think makes the Claremont Institute’s Fellowships unique?

Claremont provides fellows with the opportunity to create a structure by which to think of everything else . Fellows are immersed in Natural Rights and Natural Law, and personally I’ve looked at politics differently since my fellowship because I use what I learned at Claremont as the lens by which to judge everything through. Whereas other fellowships want to tell fellows what to think, Claremont teaches its fellows how to think. 

Who would you hope the individual would be, if you could have a fireside chat with an American Founder or any great thinker?  What would you discuss?  

Picking one founder is most difficult, though I think I’d be most interested in speaking to John Adams, primarily because his great grandfather is also one of my great grandfathers, and I find his tenderness toward Abigail during the Revolution to be very humanizing . I’d also love to speak with Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson’s character isn’t all that complicated, though there has been a decades-long effort to frame him as a hypocrite and rapist (Sally Hemings). I’d be interested to witness his temper and demeanor firsthand. His personal writings indicate he believed being virtuous privately was just as important as being virtuous publicly, and I’d love his take on how to restore virtue to America.

What would the artifact be, if you could hold one piece of history from the early founding of our country?  Why?

I’d love to see the desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence (which is readily available at a museum) or any item from the Graff House since the house was destroyed roughly 100 years later. 

In which one of the original 13 colonies, looking back on history, would you have wanted to live?  Why?

I would want to live in Massachusetts, primarily because my family settled Northampton, Massachusetts, in the 1600s and were active participants in the American Revolution. In fact, one set of great-grandparents who later married were both witnesses to the Battle of Bunker Hill as young children (on opposite sides too!). 

My family history is my inheritance, and I’d love to add more color to their lives, as they were patriots to the highest degree and I’m so honored to carry their legacy!

What qualities will make outstanding statesmen/women in this century?

I think one quality that makes someone a good statesman is the ability to do what’s right even when it’s not popular. The country has, writ large, lost its moral compass and virtue. Therefore, what is ‘popular’ is in contradiction with our morals and virtue, and if we allow popularity to dictate policy, we will only speed up the demise of the republic. 

What do you think has been the major contributor to the demise of our country’s lack of political civility?

I think phones and technology have been the greatest factor in the demise of our political civility because they have allowed us to hide behind a keyboard instead of talking face-to-face with our neighbors. I often find myself detoxing from social media/politics and finding that my neighbors and community are going about their day without the same hatred and animosity I find on social media or even on TV. People forget that people are real beings. 

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing the United States today?

Our suicidal empathy. 

Firstly, people have been indoctrinated to believe either because we are morally superior – or because we are inferior – that we must be the dumping ground for anyone and everyone in the world to come to, as well as the world police. As a result, people forget that we are a nation too, bound together by more than a mere creed. Our importation of foreigners who are not able to assimilate erodes the national identity and weakens the bonds – or “mystic chords of memory” – that help bind a people together.  We’ve also traded objective goods for subjective goods which is influencing our domestic policy making. Parties on both sides are scared to unequivocally declare something right or wrong and as a result, the country cannot even look to our leaders for virtue. 

What books are you currently reading?

I am currently reading The Civil War by Geoffrey Ward, Ken Burns, and Ric Burns, as well as Framing a Legend: Exposing the Distorted History of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by M. Andrew Holowchak.  I am also re-reading The Political Theory of the American Founding by Thomas G. West

What book, movie, or speech has left a lasting impression on you? Why?

The 1993 Gettysburg movie has left a lasting impression because in less than 80 years, the creation of the fathers of many of the men who fought in the Civil War was dying in front of them. You can see and understand the struggle on both sides – that is, the struggle for the republic they both thought they had an inheritance to. 

Do you have a favorite quote? Why does it resonate with you? 

One quote I find myself repeating the first half of is Thomas Jefferson’s: “Indeed I tremble for my country when reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!”

While Jefferson was referring to slavery, I find myself often fearing for my country – or trembling, to borrow Jefferson’s phraseology – for what I find to be our current sins against our own people. Mass migration, erosion of individual liberties, abortion – all of these issues culminate in the prohibition of Americans from living up to their duty to their Supreme Creator and I tremble when I think that God is just and will one day right our wrongs if we don’t. 

What is the most distinctive attribute/character of the people in the state where you grew up that you genuinely admire?

I find most New Yorkers are ambitious (perhaps to a fault), but nonetheless they are driven. 

What is your favorite cultural/recreational pastime (or hobby)? Why?

A cultural pastime is baseball – it’s an opportunity to (hopefully) step away from politics and find something that brings a sense of camaraderie to you and your fellow Americans especially at a time when Americans are more isolated from one another than ever. 

Where do you see yourself and the United States in five years?

To borrow a phrase from Jefferson (albeit in a much different context), I “tremble for my country.” President Trump is merely a speedbump in the destruction of the Republic unless his administration is able to accomplish election integrity, mass deportations, and a dismantling of the left-wing activist groups fueling political violence. I pray my country surprises me, Lord knows the Founders gave us the tools necessary to preserve this country. As for myself, perhaps running for Congress.