MJ Lee

Last updated

MJ Lee
Born
Lee Min-jung

(1987-03-05) March 5, 1987 (age 37)
Seoul, South Korea
Other namesMin Jung Lee
Citizenship United States
Alma mater Georgetown University
Occupation(s)Journalist, political correspondent
Years active2009 – present
Employer(s) CNN (2014–present)
Politico (2009–2014)
Known forCNN White House Correspondent
Spouse Alex Burns
Children2
Korean name
Hangul
이민정
Hanja
Revised Romanization I Min-jeong
McCune–Reischauer I Minjŏng

Min Jung "MJ" Lee (born March 5, [1] 1987) is a South Korean-born American political correspondent for CNN and is currently a White House correspondent for the network.

Contents

She has previously worked for Politico .

Early life and education

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Hong Kong, where she and her brother attended Hong Kong International School (an American-system style school). In her junior year of high school, she moved to the United States to attend a boarding school and has never returned to South Korea since. [2] In 2009, she graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in government and Chinese. [3] During college, she interned for The Washington Post and South China Morning Post . [4] Lee was offered an entry-level journalism position, but was then rejected due to being on a visa. [2]

Career

Months after graduation, Lee began working at Politico as a web producer. [1] By 2012, she was a finance reporter after a year on the breaking news desk. In 2014, she started working at CNN. [5] Since working at CNN, she has covered the 2016 United States presidential election (both Trump and Clinton campaigns); [6] as well as how the Me Too movement has affected Capitol Hill, covering the allegations against ousted U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN), former White House aide and Staff Secretary Rob Porter, and former U.S. Representative Blake Farenthold (R-TX) (all of whom resigned from their positions as a result of abuse or sexual misconduct allegations). [7] She has also covered the Republicans' contemporary attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. [8] [9] Lee covered the 2020 Democratic presidential primary with a focus on the Elizabeth Warren campaign, and the 2020 United States presidential election with a focus on the Joe Biden campaign.

In January 2021, Lee was promoted to White House correspondent under the Biden administration. [10]

At APEC United States 2023, she asked US president Biden if he considered Chinese president Xi a dictator. Biden replied yes. [11]

Personal life

Lee became an American citizen on September 17, 2016, on Ellis Island, coinciding with her coverage of the 2016 US presidential election campaign. [2] She is married to fellow journalist Alex Burns. [3] They have two children. [12]

In 2022, Lee was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Awards. [13] [14]

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References

  1. 1 2 Lippman, Daniel (March 5, 2018). "BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: MJ Lee, CNN national political reporter". Politico . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Lee, MJ (September 23, 2016). "The day I became an American citizen". CNN . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Pappu, Sridhar (March 5, 2016). "Millennial Reporters Grab the Campaign-Trail Spotlight". New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Success Stories: Class of 2009". Georgetown University . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  5. ↑ Wemple, Erik (December 19, 2014). "Politico editor Susan Glasser: We're in a 'period of growth and rising ambition'". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  6. ↑ Wemple, Erik (December 8, 2016). "CNN reporter felt like a 'new person' after switch from Trump to Clinton". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  7. ↑ "MJ Lee - Correspondent". CNN. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  8. ↑ Lee, MJ (March 9, 2017). "Nobody wants their name on the Republican health care bill". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  9. ↑ Lee, MJ (January 9, 2017). "How the tables are turning on Obamacare". CNN. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ Brian Stelter (January 11, 2021). "CNN announces promotions for Jake Tapper, Abby Phillip, Dana Bash and others". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  11. ↑ Donald Judd (November 16, 2023). "Biden says he still believes Xi Jinping is a dictator". CNN. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  12. ↑ "MJ Lee - Senior White House Correspondent". CNN. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  13. ↑ "MJ Lee". Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ Candid. "Carnegie Corporation names 2022 cohort of distinguished immigrants". Philanthropy News Digest (PND). Retrieved June 18, 2024.
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