Amanda Beth Carpenter was born in Montrose, Michigan, and raised there by her mother Lisa.

After graduating from Ball State University in 2005, Carpenter worked as a Congressional correspondent for Human Events from 2005-2007 before going to Townhall.com to become their national political reporter.

On March 1, 2009, Carpenter took a position with The Washington Times, where she wrote a daily column called the Hot Button, that covered political and cultural issues, as well other news articles.

Carpenter is also known as a blogger, author, and commentator. She has made numerous media appearances, including segments on the BBC; Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, Hannity & Colmes, and The Big Story; MSNBC’s Tucker; PBS's To the Contrary and CNN's Larry King Live and Reliable Sources. Her book The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton was published in 2006, and she later wrote about the 2008 presidential election for Glamour magazine's blog "Glamocracy".

On January 25, 2010, it was announced that Carpenter was leaving The Washington Times and joining Senator Jim DeMint's staff as senior communications advisor and speechwriter.