CNN’s Abby Phillip is gaining a new title that she says has made her “more in awe” of what women are able to endure: mom.
The “Inside Politics Sunday” anchor says she’s expecting her first child with husband Marcus Richardson this summer in an interview with “CBS This Morning’s” Gayle King for “The Cut,” published Monday.
Juggling an under-wraps pregnancy and her career, the 32-year-old journalist says, is no easy task.
“It was tough: battling morning sickness while balancing a demanding job with long, unpredictable hours. But it has been a reminder of what I am capable of — and what so many women do every day,” Phillip says.
“It’s obviously been a difficult year to be Black in America — not just because of the turmoil this summer over racial justice but also the danger that Black Americans faced from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Phillip told King. “I really tried to practice self-care this year — taking breaks and even bowing out of certain conversations and opportunities in the interest of self-restoration.”
“But as a journalist, I always reengage, because this is my way of making a small difference. If I can shine light on these issues and bring the perspectives and the challenges facing Black people in this country to light, it’s a good day. And that’s what keeps me going,” she says.
Phillip also opened up about first being assigned to cover the Trump administration in 2017, saying developing sources was “a bit of a concern.”
“People were obsessed with the personality stories — who was up, who was down, who he was upset about. I was less interested in that,” she says. “And as a Black reporter covering politics, you know that some of those stories are less accessible to you — sources are not going to give me the gossip in the same way they might give my white colleagues the gossip.”
Phillip and Richardson are already parents to one furry family member: their dog, Booker T. The CNN political correspondent may have alluded to her pregnancy during a Q&A with ITK earlier this year — when asked her prediction about what 2021 will be, Phillip responded, “Incredibly busy.”