Tammy K. Bruce (born August 20, 1962) is an American conservative radio host, author, and political commentator. She has served as United States Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations since December 2025. She previously served as spokeswoman for the United States Department of State from January to August 2025 in the second Trump administration. Bruce has been an on-air contributor to Fox News and has also hosted Get Tammy Bruce on Fox Nation.
Early life and education
Tammy Bruce was born on August 20, 1962, in Northridge, California. Her mother was a retail store clerk. Bruce has never met her biological father, saying that he "disappeared a few months before I was born".
Bruce went to Ventura High School, where she lasted only two weeks. She subsequently took the California Proficiency Exam and passed. She later worked for Gloria Loring and her then-husband, Alan Thicke. The NOW Executive Board voted to censure her for what it called "racially insensitive comments". Bruce claimed that the censure was due to her focus on domestic violence, as opposed to defense attorney Johnnie Cochran's "racial issues" trial argument. She resigned from NOW five months later, in May 1996. Since then, Bruce has written about what she sees as the failings of NOW and the political left in general. She has said that the feminist establishment in the U.S. has abandoned authentic feminism. She launched a new organization, the Women’s Progress Alliance with Denise Brown, the sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, saying “We both have been controversial, and we both will remain controversial."
In 1997, Bruce hosted an overnight weekend talk show on KFI, in Los Angeles. She also hosted a national radio program on Talk Radio Network throughout much of the 2000s.
In 2003, Bruce was appointed to serve on California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's transition team following his successful recall election against Governor Gray Davis.
Political commentator (2010–2024)
Bruce had been a Democrat and a liberal activist, but later became a conservative. In a 2010 op-ed, she wrote the following: "The real story of bigotry and intolerance is the fact that it lives and thrives on the left. As a gay woman who spent most of her adult life pushing the cart for liberal causes with liberal friends in a liberal city, I found that sexism, racism and homophobia are staples in the liberal world. The huge irony is liberals spend every ounce of energy promoting the notion that they are the banner carriers of individualism and personal freedom, yet the hammer comes down on anyone who dares not to conform to, or who dissents even in part from, the liberal agenda".
Bruce was the subject of controversy in May 2017, when appearing as a guest on Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight. She criticized an autistic child for asking Vice President Mike Pence for an apology when he accidentally brushed the young boy in the face. She later apologized on air.
In December 2018, Bruce appeared on Fox News to criticize the decision of one Scottish coffee shop to call "gingerbread men" "gingerbread people". Bruce said, "obviously, they're men". She characterized the decision by the coffee shop as "the tipping point" in policing free speech.
Bruce was a Fox News contributor. In 2019, she became the host of Get Tammy Bruce, which airs on the Fox Nation streaming service.
Second Trump's administration (2025–present)
In January 2025, Donald Trump announced that Bruce would be named as spokeswoman for the United States Department of State in his second administration. In August 2025, he nominated her to be Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations. She was sworn in on December 29, 2025.
Spokeswoman the United States Department of State
Tammy Bruce served as Spokesperson for the United States Department of State in 2025 during the second administration of Donald Trump. She acted as the department’s main public voice, holding regular press briefings and issuing official statements on U.S. foreign policy.
In August 2025, she was nominated to become U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations, after which her spokesperson duties were gradually taken over by Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations
Tammy Bruce assumed office as Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations on 29 December 2025. She was previously the Spokesperson for the United States Department of State earlier in 2025.
As Deputy Permanent Representative, she serves as the second-ranking official in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, supporting the Permanent Representative in representing the United States at meetings of the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and other UN bodies, and helping coordinate U.S. diplomatic policy at the United Nations.
Personal life
At the age of 17, Bruce commenced a romantic partnership with 34-year-old actress Brenda Benet. At the time, Bruce was employed as Benet's personal secretary.
In a 2005 interview with C-SPAN, Bruce identified herself as a pro-choice lesbian.
Books
Films
Bruce made her film debut in the 2009 short feature film 2081, based on the Kurt Vonnegut short story, Harrison Bergeron. She also appeared in the 2011 documentary The Undefeated.