Rita Panahi

Rita Panahi is an American and Australian conservative political commentator and columnist of Iranian descent. She is a columnist in the Herald Sun, owned by News Corp Australia, is the host of The Rita Panahi Show and Lefties Losing It on News24, and is a contributor to Sunrise on the Seven Network. She is on the radio at 3AW and 2GB. Her views have been described as conservative and right-wing.

Early life and education Rita Panahi was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States, the child of Iranian parents. The family returned to Iran during her infancy, living on the coast and moving to Tehran by 1979. Her mother worked for a hospital associated with the Shah at the time of the Iranian Revolution.

Panahi described her parents as "relaxed Shia Muslims who were not particularly political". However, her family was targeted following the Islamic Revolution by the Shia Islamist government of the Ayatollah Khomeini due to their connections with the Shah. In 1984, they were accepted by Australia as refugees and subsequently lived in Melbourne.

Views Panahi has been described as conservative

Panahi is an atheist. She argues that the hijab is a political symbol as well as a religious one, and has supported statements against veils made by fellow former Muslims such as Darya Safai and Yasmine Mohammed. However, she opposes a complete ban on Muslim immigration. In January 2015, she wrote an article titled "Islam, you have a very serious problem" for The Daily Telegraph. News website New Matilda published an open letter by an 18-year old returned expatriate critical of Panahi's article.

Asylum seekers Panahi supports Australia's humanitarian intake through regular means. The offshore detention camps, which have been criticised by human rights organisations, are, she says, an uncomfortable necessity to deter desperate people from attempting the dangerous sea voyage. However, Panahi has criticised the political statements made by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, arguing they have "trashed" the legacy of Queen Elizabeth. Prior to the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, Panahi opined that the crown should be passed down to Prince William instead of his father, Charles.

US politics Ahead of the 2020 United States presidential election, Panahi maintained that while she had some disagreements and reservations about Donald Trump, she favoured his re-election and argued that a Trump victory would be more beneficial to Australian national security than a Biden presidency. She accused the media of ignoring the increase in black, gay, and Hispanic support for Trump in order to accuse him of racism.