Biography
MJ Lee is a correspondent for CNN covering politics, campaigns and national breaking news stories. She previously covered the 2020 presidential election as a political correspondent for the network, focusing on Elizabeth Warren’s campaign during the primaries before reporting on Joe Biden’s campaign and the transition.
Prior to that, Lee recently focused on the national #MeToo movement — particularly, its implications on Capitol Hill and in government. She has broken news on major misconduct allegations involving elected officials and political figures including Rob Porter, Rep. Blake Farenthold and Sen. Al Franken, as well as on the legislative debate in Washington to reform the culture surrounding sexual harassment.
In 2017, Lee covered the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, reporting on both the heated political deliberations in Washington and the real-life implications of proposed policy changes across the country. Prior to her healthcare coverage, she traveled the country extensively covering the 2016 presidential election, focusing her reporting on Donald Trump during the primaries and Hillary Clinton in the general election.
On the campaign trail, Lee produced several deeply reported, large-scale pieces on the mood of American voters including “Being Muslim in American in the year of Donald Trump,” an intimate look at how Muslim Americans were grappling with the atmosphere of the 2016 election; “Resetting red and blue in the Rust Belt,” an early examination of how Trump’s candidacy was transforming a Democratic-leaning region; and “Why I’m voting for Donald Trump,” a team project that took a comprehensive look at Trump’s appeal through interviews with more than 150 voters
Before joining CNN, Lee was a finance and politics reporter at Politico in Washington, D.C. She was born in South Korea and grew up in Hong Kong. She has a bachelor’s degree in government and Chinese from Georgetown University.
Articles, Publications, and Appearances
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Visits to New York City’s domestic violence website surged amid coronavirus pandemic (CNN, April 7, 2020)
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Trump & NY Gov. coordinating on coronavirus after criticizing each other over relief efforts (CNN, March 17, 2020)
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Elizabeth Warren ends her presidential campaign (CNN, March 5, 2020)
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Allegations of misogynistic & sexist comments loom over Bloomberg campaign (CNN, February 19, 2020)