You will not find too many political commentators be it on Fox, MSMBC, or even CNN who will seem to always be having fun no matter what is being discussed like CNN’s top political commentator and editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza.
Beyond that, he puts in the effort, which has been described sometimes as too much, in achieving a balance in all that he reports. Because of that and his style, he is not the favorite among many journalists even though he has been able to build massive followership for himself.
Chris Cillizza of CNN Bio
CNN’s political commentator was born Christopher Michael Cillizza on February 20, 1976, in Marlborough, Connecticut, the U.S. His father was a teacher while his mom worked at an insurance company.
Brought up in Connecticut, he went to Loomis Chaffee college preparatory school which is considered a school for the rich. There, he met people like MTV veejay Jesse Camp and retired ice hockey player, Andrew Berenzweig.
From there, he went to Georgetown University where he majored in English. His dream was to become a short story writer and novelist. Even though he was not interested in politics, he was recommended for a coveted internship by the dean of the college of arts and sciences with American political commentator and Pulitzer-winning journalist, George Will.
By 1998, Chris Cillizza had already graduated but he had it very hard finding his way as a novelist and so he thought to become a sports writer but soon dropped the plan and instead, opted for becoming a political reporter.
He got to know that the legendary political reporter Charlie Cook was looking for someone to help with his newsletter and so he applied for the job and was hired. In 1998, he began working at The Cook Political Report as a receptionist but it was also there that he also began writing as a journalist.
With too many stories at hand at the time from the Monica Lewinsky Scandal and then the impeachment proceeding, coming elections, and much more, Cillizza put himself in his work, giving him a good foundation.
He went on to work for the newspaper, Roll Call, with which he spent 4 years. In 2005, he began the blog The Fix. By then, he was already working with The Washington Post. In 2007, he began co-hosting the MySpace/MTV Presidential Dialogues until 2008. The program had people like John McCain and Barack Obama.
In 2017, the veteran journalist left The Washington Post for CNN where he reports live under his show “The Point with Chris Cillizza”. More so, he has a nightly newsletter and flash briefings for Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Wife and Family Facts
A lover of softball, Chris Cillizza has met many friends through the sport. One of such friends is Gia Fenoglio who later became his wife. Gia Cillizza played hockey when she was much younger and she now works as a hockey coach.
The couple lives in Virginia with their two sons, Charlie and Will.
Here are Some Facts About his Family
1. Gia Cillizza worked as the field hockey head coach of The Catholic University of America for 14 years until 2016 when he left. In her last five years with the team, Gia led CUA to five straight NCAA Tournaments, 4 Landmark Conference titles, and two Elite Eight finishes.
2. The oldest of Cillizza’s two kids, Charlie was born in 2009 while his second was born in 2012.
3. Having a height of 6 feet 2 inches, Chris had also wanted to be an NBA player but he found out that he was not talented enough and so he dropped the idea.
Chris Cillizza Net Worth and Salary
Cillizza has been involved in a lot of things through the years as a journalist that one would easily expect him to have a good net worth and juicy salary. That said, his exact fortune is not known just as his salary.
When he did his Reddit Ask Me Anything session, one of the questions he was asked was regarding how much he makes but he did not provide an answer for that.
Back in 1995 when he was working for George Will, Chris Cillizza revealed that he was paid as much as $12 an hour. This, according to him, was living the dream. His job was picking calls and making research.
