McKay Coppins (born February 2, 1987) is an American journalist, author, and staff writer for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

''.

Career

Coppins began his career at ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' and broke the story that Jon Huntsman Jr., would resign his ambassadorship in China and run for President. Coppins joined ''BuzzFeed'' to cover the 2012 presidential race, becoming an important source on Governor

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

(Mormon) faith. In 2012, Coppins was one of the "30 under 30" media pundits in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine and also listed along with three other young ''

BuzzFeed News ''BuzzFeed News'' was an American news website published by BuzzFeed beginning in 2011. It ceased posting new hard news content in May 2023. It published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was strong ...

'' journalists as one of ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

''s "ten breakout reporters of 2012." He is a regular contributor to

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential primaries, Coppins became embroiled in a public

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

feud with Republican candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

after writing articles suggesting that Trump was running a "fake" campaign. In November 2016, he announced he was leaving ''BuzzFeed'' to join ''The Atlantic'' as a staff writer. In 2015, Coppins published ''The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House''. Walter Russell Mead favorably reviewed the book in ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'', writing that it was " dely sourced and compellingly written." He has an acrimonious relationship with President

after he called his presidential aspirations a "sham"; Trump in response called him a "dishonest slob". Coppins released a biography of Mitt Romney called '' Romney: A Reckoning'' on October 24, 2023. The book covers 25 years of American politics, based on 45 interviews with Romney and thousands of private emails, text messages, and diary entries.

Personal life

Coppins was raised in

Holliston, Massachusetts Holliston is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Greater Boston area. The population was 14,996 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in MetroWest, a Massachusetts region that is west ...

. He graduated from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

where he was editor of BYU's student newspaper, '' The Daily Universe''. Coppins and his wife were married in 2009 and have four children as of 2018. Coppins is a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...

(LDS Church), in which he served a full-time mission, and he has often written about his faith. Coppins felt his background in the church helped him while writing about

, a fellow Latter-day Saint, as it helped Coppins "in understanding the elusive candidate as an actual person".

References

External links

* published Feb 20, 2020 Amanpour and Company {{DEFAULTSORT:Coppins, McKay 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American writers Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts American political journalists American political writers American reporters and correspondents The Atlantic (magazine) people Brigham Young University alumni Journalists from Massachusetts Living people Newsweek people People from Holliston, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts BuzzFeed people 1987 births