Is Maggie Haberman ‘The Greatest Political Reporter Working Today?’

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By Nathan Guttman May 25, 2017

President Trump calls her “third-rate,” “sad” and “totally in the Hillary circle of bias,” but New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman is still the commander-in-chief’s go-to journalist when he needs to share, vent, or complain.

An extensive Elle magazine profile of Haberman crowned the 43-year-old reporter as the must-read source for anyone interested in “what Donald Trump is really thinking.”

Haberman grew up in New York’s Upper West Side breathing journalism at home, with her father Clyde, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, and her mother Nancy, a publicist at the prominent Rubinstein communications firm.

Covering New York local politics, a beat that included figures like Hillary Clinton and Trump, gave Haberman a leg up as she moved to national political coverage with Politico and then the Times.

And as a seasoned, fearless reporter who is deeply respected by her colleagues, Haberman has a message to all those still trying to overcome Trump’s election victory. “I think people have to move past that, because otherwise you’re just never going to be able to cover him,” she said. “Every moment cannot be, ‘Wow! Can you believe what he just did?’ Yes, I can! Because he is the same person he was during the campaign.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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