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Weijia Jiang

American television journalist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weijia Jiang (Chinese: 江惟嘉; pinyin: Jiāng Wéijiā; born June 6, 1983) is an American television journalist and reporter.[2] She is based in Washington, D.C., and has served since 2018 as the Senior White House Correspondent for CBS News.[3] Jiang has also served since 2026 as the president of the White House Correspondents' Association.

Born (1983-06-06) June 6, 1983 (age 43)
Xiamen, Fujian, China
CitizenshipUnited States[1]
Education
Occupations
  • News reporter
  • television journalist
Quick facts Born, Citizenship ...
Weijia Jiang
Jiang in 2026
Born (1983-06-06) June 6, 1983 (age 43)
Xiamen, Fujian, China
CitizenshipUnited States[1]
Education
Occupations
  • News reporter
  • television journalist
Years active2006–present
Notable credits
  • WCBS-TV New York correspondent (2012–2015)
  • CBS News White House Correspondent (2018–present)
TitleWhite House Correspondent
Spouse
Travis Luther Lowe
​
(m. 2018)​
Children2
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese江惟嘉
Simplified Chinese江惟嘉
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJiāng Wéijiā
Wade–GilesJiang1 Wei2jia1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJKiung Ói-ka
Close

In 2020, Jiang's question to President Donald Trump about the COVID-19 testing program in the United States[4] during a White House press briefing[5] received global attention and coverage.[6][7]

Early life

Born in Xiamen, Fujian, China, to Liya Wei and Huade "John" Jiang, Jiang was two when the family immigrated to the United States.[8] She was raised in Buckhannon, West Virginia, where her parents owned and operated a Chinese restaurant.[9] At age 13, Jiang became interested in journalism after encouragement from her eighth-grade teacher, Dianne Williams. Together, they prepared a homemade TV show to submit to a competition run by Channel One, leading to an opportunity for Jiang to intern as a student anchor and reporter in Los Angeles for two weeks. During high school, Jiang worked on the high school video news staff under Julia Conley.[10]

In 2005, Jiang graduated from the College of William & Mary with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a minor in chemistry. She worked on the student-run television station WMTV and credits the university for developing her curiosity.[11] In 2006, Jiang graduated from Syracuse University with master's degree in broadcast journalism.[9][12] In 2012, she was recognized for her contributions in communications as an inductee of Newhouse School of Public Communication's Professional Gallery.[13][14]

Career

From 2006 to 2008, Jiang was a reporter for WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland. From 2008 to 2012, she worked at WJZ-TV, Baltimore. From 2012 to 2015, Jiang worked as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor at WCBS-TV in New York City, where she covered the Boston Marathon bombings,[15] the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings,[16] and Hurricane Sandy.[17]

In 2013, WBZ-TV, Boston, won a regional Emmy award at the 34th News & Documentary Emmy Awards for the spot news coverage of the Newtown Tragedy[18] which Jiang was involved in reporting.[19] In 2014, Jiang was the Gala Dinner MC for the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Gala Dinner, which featured letters of support from Barack Obama, Andrew Cuomo, and Bill de Blasio.[20]

In 2015, Jiang moved to Washington, D.C., to become a correspondent for Newspath, the 24-hour news gathering service for CBS News. There, she has covered major political stories such as the 2016 United States presidential elections,[21] Barbara Bush's funeral,[22][23] and the congressional baseball shooting,[24] also extensively reporting on both the Obama and Trump administrations. In 2018, after covering President Donald Trump's G-7 Summit[25] and the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy,[26] Jiang became CBS News's White House correspondent.[27] She has traveled with Trump on many occasions, including on Air Force One, and has covered stories including the Helsinki summit between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin,[28][29] the Mueller Probe, the 2020 United States presidential election,[30] and Trump's first and second impeachments.[3]

Jiang is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.[31] In 2023, she was elected to an at-large board seat of the White House Correspondents' Association. She has served as the organization's president since 2026.[32] She continued to cover the White House as a senior White House correspondent for CBS News during the Biden administration.[33] She sat next to Trump during the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, and was praised by him for her hosting of the dinner.[34]

Confrontations with President Trump

As a White House Correspondent during the first Trump administration, Jiang had several high-profile clashes with Trump. He once ended a press conference when she pushed back on his refusal to answer a question.[35][36][37]

During a press conference on May 11, 2020, CBS News White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang asked in reference to Coronavirus testing, "Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives?", Trump replied "They're losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, OK?"[38][35]

Memoir

Jiang is writing a memoir, Other, set to be published by One Signal Publishers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.[39][40]

Awards

Personal life

On March 17, 2018, Jiang married Travis Luther Lowe, an executive at Yelp and a donor to Democratic Party candidates and causes,[44] in Palm Springs, California. Civil rights activist Jim Obergefell led the ceremony, which also featured a Chinese tea ceremony. Jiang and Lowe met in college, where they co-hosted a weekly campus television show.[9] In January 2019, she gave birth to their daughter.[45]

See also

References

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