Olivia Nuzzi

Olivia Nuzzi (born January 6, 1993) is an American political journalist who serves as the Washington correspondent for New York magazine, covering the presidential administration of Donald Trump.

Early and personal life

Nuzzi was born in New York City. Her parents are Kelly Nuzzi and the late John Nuzzi, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, worked for the New York City Department of Sanitation for 20 years, and died in December 2015.^[1][2] Nuzzi wrote about him after he died for The Daily Beast.^[2] She has a brother, Jonathan.^[1]

She grew up in the River Plaza community in Middletown, New Jersey, where her mother still lives.^[3] Nuzzi resides in Washington, D.C.^[3] Journalist Garance Franke-Ruta, writing for The Atlantic, described her in 2013 as a "lissome blonde".^[4]

Career

High school, and early work

Nuzzi attended and graduated from Middletown High School South.^[3] She began her writing career as a teenager in 2011, as a monthly political columnist for the triCityNews, an alt weekly based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.^[3] She also wrote for More Monmouth Musings, a politically conservative blog and news website.^[3]

College, and Weiner mayoral campaign

While she was a 20-year-old junior attending Fordham University in 2013, Nuzzi volunteered and worked for four weeks as an intern for the Anthony Weiner New York City mayoral campaign.^[5][6] During her brief stint, she was hired as a full-time staff writer by NSFWcorp and described her experiences as an intern on the Weiner campaign in a blog post on July 28, 2013.^[7] In it, she asserted that Weiner mistakenly referred to her and another female intern as "Monica," and that an unnamed source told her that Weiner had lied to his campaign manager, who had quit as a result, and that the manager was one of a "series of staffers who have fled the campaign".^[6]

The New York Daily News commissioned her to write a follow-up article about the campaign,^[8] which two days later became its July 30, 2013, front page story.^[5] According to Nuzzi, some of her fellow interns were working in the campaign because they were hoping to meet Weiner's wife Huma Abedin, and through Abedin her boss Hillary Clinton, to be involved in Clinton's anticipated run for the presidency.^[5]

In an interview with Talking Points Memo that was published that day, Weiner Communications Director Barbara Morgan, who later said she though her interview was off the record, called Nuzzi a fame-hungry "bitch" who “sucked" at her job, and a "slutbag," "twat," and "cunt".^[9][4] Morgan said Nuzzi "was clearly there because she wanted to be seen.... she would just not show up for work," that Nuzzi had signed and violated a non-disclosure agreement, and that Morgan had earlier "tried to fire her, but she begged to come back and I gave her a second chance."^[9] Elspeth Reeve observed in The New Republic, "Disloyalty is generally not viewed kindly among political staffers."^[10] Morgan later apologized to Nuzzi for calling her names, and Nuzzi accepted the apology.^[4]

Presidential campaigns, and Trump administration

After being laid off by NSFWcorp in November 2013,^[8] Nuzzi was hired by The Daily Beast in May 2014 while she was still attending Fordham University.^[11] Nuzzi left school before graduating, to take the job.^[3] At The Daily Beast, Nuzzi covered the presidential campaigns of Rand Paul and Chris Christie, as well as Donald Trump's political rise.

In November 2016, Politico named Nuzzi one of the "16 Breakout Media Stars" of the presidential election.^[12] In December 2016, Mediaite listed Nuzzi as one of 2016's twenty-five "most influential" people in news media.^[13]

In February 2017, Nuzzi was hired by New York magazine to be its Washington correspondent.^[14] She has also written for Politico Magazine,^[15] GQ,^[16] Esquire,^[17] and The Washington Post.^[18]

References