McKay Coppins
{{Short description|American journalist and author}}
{{Infobox person
| name = McKay Coppins
| image = McKay Coppins5188171.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|2|2}}
| birth_place = Massachusetts, United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Brigham Young University
| occupation = Journalist
| nationality = American
| spouse =
| children =
| known_for = Reporting on politics, religion
| credits =
| URL = {{URL|https://www.theatlantic.com/author/mckay-coppins/}}
}}
McKay Coppins (born February 2, 1987) is an American journalist, author, and staff writer for The Atlantic.
Career
Coppins began his career at Newsweek and broke the story that Jon Huntsman Jr., would resign his ambassadorship in China and run for President.{{Cite news|url = http://www.newsweek.com/manchurian-candidate-66823|title = The Manchurian Candidate|last = Coppins|first = McKay|work = Newsweek}}
Coppins joined BuzzFeed to cover the 2012 presidential race, becoming an important source on Governor Mitt Romney's Latter-day Saint (Mormon) faith.{{Cite news |title = McKay Coppins, the Mormon on Mitt's trail|url = http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/01/mckay-coppins-the-mormon-on-mitts-trail-112920|website =Politico|access-date = 2016-01-28}} In 2012, Coppins was one of the "30 under 30" media pundits in Forbes magazine{{cite web |title=McCay Coppins, 25, Politics editor, Buzzfeed |url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeji45eegdf/mckay-coppins-25-politics-editor-buzzfeed |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231023926/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeji45eegdf/mckay-coppins-25-politics-editor-buzzfeed/ |archive-date=December 31, 2012 |work=Forbes}} and also listed along with three other young BuzzFeed News journalists as one of Politico{{'}}s "ten breakout reporters of 2012."Dylan Byers, [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84147_Page2.html "10 breakout political reporters of 2012"], Politico (November 25, 2012). He is a regular contributor to CNN and MSNBC.{{cite journal |date=November 2012 |title=Meet The Next Wave Of Political Pundits |url=http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2012/10/meet-the-next-wave-of-political-pundits.html |journal=Details |volume=31 |issue=2 |page=48 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025200923/http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2012/10/meet-the-next-wave-of-political-pundits.html |archive-date=2012-10-25}}
In the run-up to the 2016 presidential primaries, Coppins became embroiled in a public Twitter feud with Republican candidate Donald Trump after writing articles suggesting that Trump was running a "fake" campaign.{{Cite web|title = 36 Hours On The Fake Campaign Trail With Donald Trump|url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/36-hours-on-the-fake-campaign-trail-with-donald-trump|website = BuzzFeed| date=14 February 2014 |access-date = 2016-01-28}}{{Cite web|title = Trump Calls BuzzFeed Reporter 'True Garbage with No Credibility'|url = http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-calls-buzzfeed-reporter-true-garbage-with-no-credibility/|website =Mediaite| date=18 February 2014 |access-date = 2016-01-28}}{{Cite web|title=BuzzFeed's Trump Takedown Drives Breitbart to the Brink of Insanity |url=http://gawker.com/buzzfeed-s-trump-takedown-drives-breitbart-to-the-brink-1526170197 |website=Gawker |access-date=2016-01-28 |language=en-US |first=J.K. |last=Trotter |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205030015/http://gawker.com/buzzfeed-s-trump-takedown-drives-breitbart-to-the-brink-1526170197 |archive-date=2016-02-05 }} 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.{{Cite news |author=John Diaz|title='The Wilderness,' by McKay Coppins|url = http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/The-Wilderness-by-McKay-Coppins-6721232.php|newspaper= San Francisco Chronicle|access-date = 2016-01-28}} Walter Russell Mead favorably reviewed the book in Foreign Affairs, writing that it was "[w]idely sourced and compellingly written."{{cite news|last1=Mead|first1=Walter Russell|title=The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House by McKay Coppins|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2016-02-16/wilderness-deep-inside-republican-party-s-combative-contentiou|access-date=February 20, 2016|work=Foreign Affairs|date=March 2016}} He has an acrimonious relationship with President Donald Trump after he called his presidential aspirations a "sham"; Trump in response called him a "dishonest slob".[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mckaycoppins/how-the-haters-made-trump "How the Haters and Losers Lost" by McKay Coppins ] July 17, 2016
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.{{cite news |last=Allen |first=Mile |date=2023-02-09 |title=Scoop: Mitt Romney reveals hundreds of emails to book author |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/02/09/mitt-romney-emails-book-mccay-coppins |accessdate=2023-02-09 |work=Axios}}{{Cite news |last=Mallon |first=Thomas |date=2023-10-19 |title=The Twilight of Mitt Romney |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/romney-mckay-coppins.html |access-date=2024-07-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Personal life
Coppins was raised in Holliston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Brigham Young University 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.Toone, Trent. [https://www.deseret.com/2018/10/2/20654970/atlantic-journalist-and-byu-graduate-mckay-coppins-talks-latter-day-saint-millennials#mckay-coppins-is-a-journalist-for-the-atlantic-and-the-author-of-the-wilderness-deep-inside-the-republican-partys-combative-contentious-chaotic-quest-to-take-back-the-white-house "Atlantic journalist and BYU graduate McKay Coppins talks Latter-day Saint millennials"], Deseret News, Utah, 2 October 2018. Retrieved on 21 February 2020.
Coppins is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in which he served a full-time mission, and he has often written about his faith.{{Cite web|title = McKay Coppins as Mr. Buzzfeed and the 'Mormon Wikipedia'|url = http://universe.byu.edu/2014/11/11/mckay-coppins-can-handle-the-truth1/|website =The Daily Universe|date=2014-11-14|access-date = 2016-01-28}}McKay Coppins, [https://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/why-the-internet-hasnt-shattered-my-mormon-faith#.tawR1YXrO Why The Internet Hasn't Shattered My Mormon Faith], BuzzFeed News (July 22, 2013). Coppins felt his background in the church helped him while writing about Mitt Romney, a fellow Latter-day Saint, as it helped Coppins "in understanding the elusive candidate as an actual person".{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Lloyd |date=2023-10-29 |title=Romney: A Reckoning review: must-read on Mitt and the rise of Trump |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/29/mitt-romney-review-reckoning-trump-mckay-coppins |access-date=2024-05-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|id=2-zvJPxJ8Hk|title=The Spread of Disinformation and the 2020 Election}} published Feb 20, 2020 Amanpour and Company
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppins, McKay}}
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:21st-century American writers
Category:Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts
Category:American political journalists
Category:American political writers
Category:American reporters and correspondents
Category:The Atlantic (magazine) people
Category:Brigham Young University alumni
Category:Journalists from Massachusetts
Category:People from Holliston, Massachusetts