| Birth Name: | Eugene Anthony Daniels II |
| Birth Date: | 12 February 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Fort Cavazos, TX |
| Education: | Colorado State University (BA) |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Employer: | Politico |
Eugene Anthony Daniels-Stephens II[1] (born February 12, 1989) is an American journalist.[2] He serves as a White House correspondent and Playbook author for Politico.[3] Daniels has been a MSNBC contributor since 2021.[4] He is also the vice president of the White House Correspondents' Association and will be the president beginning in July 2024 through July 2025.[5] [6]
Daniels was born in Fort Cavazos, Texas (formerly Fort Hood, Texas) on February 12, 1989.[7] Daniels' father was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and was deployed several times to Iraq following the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.[8] He attended Shoemaker High School in Killeen, Texas where he played football. On December 12, 2006, Daniels committed to play NCAA Division I football at Colorado State University. He signed a letter of intent on February 7, 2007.[9]
Daniels was a defensive lineman at Colorado State University where he majored in political science, later switching to journalism.[10] He was a redshirt freshman for the 2007-08 season.[11] On August 20, 2009, Daniels was taken to the hospital following heat-related health issues during a team practice.[12] In 2010, just before his junior season, Daniels injured his shoulder. He continued as a part of the team but stopped playing due to his shoulder injury.[13] He began to focus more on his journalism career. At the 2011 NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Texas, Daniels successfully ran for vice-chair of the Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He graduated from Colorado State University in 2012.[14]
Daniels joined Politico in 2018, covering the 2018 midterm elections. During the 2020 presidential election, Daniels covered the Andrew Yang campaign. He is now a White House correspondent for Politico, covering Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.[15] Daniels is also a co-author of Politico's Playbook, a daily early-morning email newsletter. He is the first Black and first openly LGBTQ author of the newsletter.[16]
In 2021, Daniels was named a MSNBC contributor. In April 2022, he was promoted to senior contributor on Morning Joe. He regularly appears as a panelist on NBC's Meet the Press.
In July 2022, Daniels was elected treasurer of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) for 2024-25.[17] Kaitlan Collins of CNN was elected president but resigned in September due to her promotion as co-anchor on CNN This Morning.[18] [19] According to WHCA bylaws, in the event that the president-elect is unable to serve, the person elected treasurer becomes president. As such, Daniels was designated president of the WHCA for 2024-25. He accepted the call to serve by saying, “I am both humbled and full of excitement to serve and for all that we will do together." He will serve as the president of the WHCA during the 2024 presidential election.
Daniels came out as gay in 2016.[20] On October 29, 2022, he married Nathan Thomas Stephens in the Evergreen Museum & Library in Baltimore, Maryland.[21]