Bob Beckel, a political analyst and former Fox News host, has died. He was 73.
Columnist Cal Thomas shared the news of Beckel’s death via Facebook on Monday afternoon. “We did so many things together and I hope we modeled what two people of different political persuasions can be like when they love one another,” he wrote, in part. A cause of death was not specified.
Talk show host Sean Hannity also announced Beckel’s death at the end of Hannity on Monday. “We end the show with sad personal news,” he said. “A very dear friend of this channel and a dear friend personally … has died.” Beckel had appeared as a panelist on numerous episodes of Hannity from 2009-17.
Beckel co-hosted, along with Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld, Fox’s long-running panel talk show The Five until he was dropped in 2017 over an insensitive remark made to an African American employee, the network said at the time. He had previously departed the network in 2015 after undergoing major back surgery.
Beckel was born in New York City in 1948 and attended Wagner College in Staten Island. During his political career, Beckel served as a campaign manager for Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign.
He formed consulting firm Bob Beckel & Associates in 1984, and went on to manage Alan Blinken’s campaign for United States Senate in 2002. Beckel joined Fox News in 2011 and co-hosted over 700 episodes of The Five.
Beckel’s memoir, I Should Be Dead: My Life Surviving Politics, TV, and Addiction, in which he discussed his long battle with substance abuse, was published in 2015.
Beckel is survived by his two children.
