Dinesh D’Souza, the conservative commentator who received a pardon from President Donald Trump, has dated several prominent pundits, including Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter. He’s also been married twice.
Trump revealed on May 31, 2018 that he was pardoning D’Souza, who was convicted of making an illegal campaign contribution. BBC provided further details, reporting that D’Souza “was convicted of making an illegal campaign contribution of $20,000…in 2014 to a New York politician. D’Souza was sentenced to five years of probation for violating federal campaign law.” According to the FBI press release in the case, D’Souza’s defense revolved around a claim of selective prosecution. The FBI press release announcing D’Souza’s sentencing says the contribution was made to the Senate campaign of Wendy Long.
Trump made the pardon announcement on Twitter on May 31, 2018, writing, “Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!” A 2015 article in Vanity Fair described D’Souza as “political pundit, writer, documentary-film maker, and onetime wunderkind of the intellectual elite.” He has written books and a movie sharply critical of former President Barack Obama.
D’Souza created controversy in September 2019 when he wrote on Twitter of teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg: “Children—notably Nordic white girls with braids and red cheeks—were often used in Nazi propaganda. An old Goebbels technique! Looks like today’s progressive Left is still learning its game from an earlier Left in the 1930s.”
Who has D’Souza dated? Who has he married?
Here’s what you need to know:
Deborah Fancher
Since 2016, D’Souza has been married to Deborah Fancher, sometimes known as Debbie Fancher. The wedding was officiated by Rafael Cruz, the father of Ted Cruz. In 2017, D’Souza wrote on Facebook of Fancher, “One year after our wedding, and the romance never ends—actually, we’re just getting started!”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Fancher, 50, immigrated from Venezuela at age 10. She was working for a Republican group in Texas when she discovered some Spanish-language videos of Bill Ayers promoting socialism in South America. She reached out to D’Souza to see if he’d be interested in them, given he had recently debated the controversial leftist, and the two began dating shortly thereafter.”
D’Souza’s website contains videos of the couple and implores, “Follow Debbie on Twitter and see why this conservative Latina is a perfect match for Dinesh!” Her Twitter page reads, “Fought hard to keep USA from going the way of my birth country, Venezuela. Fighting 4 Venezuela’s freedom RIGHT NOW! #ProudTexan Love my hubby @dineshdsouza.”
Laura Ingraham
D’Souza and Fox host Laura Ingraham were once engaged, but they never married. An excerpt from Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio by Rory O’Connor with Aaron Cutler, claims that Ingraham “went to Dartmouth University and became the first female editor of the conservative Dartmouth Review, where conservative author Dinesh D’Souza, a former boyfriend, also worked.”
According to Inside Edition, D’Souza “dated Ann Coulter and was once engaged to conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham.”
In 2014, it was revealed that Ingraham wrote a letter in defense of D’Souza to the judge in his campaign finance case. “Ingraham wrote that she has known D’Souza since their time together at Dartmouth College and has known him to be ‘unpretentious’ with a ‘diligent approach to life,'” reported Politico.
According to Politico, she credited D’Souza with teaching her how to write a news story and “and most importantly, to stay firm in my principles.”
“Dinesh is simply one of the finest human beings I have ever met,” Ingraham wrote. “His generosity of spirit, philanthropy, keen sense of compassion and devotion to country are what I hope my own children exhibit when they mature into adults. Until this recent unfortunate chapter, his life has been the quintessential immigrant success story.” You can read her full letter here.
Ann Coulter
D’Souza also dated Ann Coulter. A 2013 blog post claims that D’Souza left Ingraham for Coulter.
Vanity Fair described D’Souza by saying he “also became a hot commodity among blonde conservatives” known for “dating Laura Ingraham and then Ann Coulter.”
Dixie Brubaker
Dixie Brubaker was D’Souza’s first wife. “He found the ultimate prize in Dixie Brubaker, a beautiful blonde from a conservative California family, whom he had met while working in the White House; they married in 1992,” reported Vanity Fair, quoting D’Souza as saying, “It was my mission to marry the all-American girl.” His wife was from San Diego.
According to The Washington Post, “D’Souza and the former Dixie Brubaker met when he was a young policy aide and she was an intern in the Reagan White House. They married in 1992 and have one daughter.”
The pair divorced in 2013. You can see a photo of his first wife here.
Denise Odie Joseph
D’Souza’s relationship with Denise Joseph caused controversy because he was still married to Brubaker at the time. “D’Souza, a married man, reportedly shared a hotel room with another woman while attending a Christian values event in South Carolina last month. And get this—the woman is 22 years younger than D’Souza, and is reportedly his fiancée,” reported Inside Edition. “The woman’s name is Denise Joseph. The problem is, D’Souza has been married to another woman for 20 years.”
D’Souza denied the claims. “D’Souza has denied sharing the hotel room with Denise Joseph, and claims he is separated from his wife,” Inside Edition added. One reason for the controversy: D’Souza was running King’s College, an evangelical school, at the time.
The Washington Post reported that Joseph once had a “lifestyle and opinion” blog, describing it as a platform “on which she had raged against liberals and urged readers” to check out D’Souza’s anti-Obama documentary.