How To Read This Chart</a> and is the author of <a href=https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-bump/"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696653/the-aftermath-by-philip-bump/">The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America</a>."/>How To Read This Chart</a> and is the author of <a href=https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-bump/"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696653/the-aftermath-by-philip-bump/">The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America</a>."/>How To Read This Chart</a> and is the author of <a href=https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-bump/"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696653/the-aftermath-by-philip-bump/">The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America</a>."/>How To Read This Chart</a> and is the author of <a href=https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-bump/"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696653/the-aftermath-by-philip-bump/">The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America</a>."/>How To Read This Chart</a> and is the author of <a href=https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-bump/"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696653/the-aftermath-by-philip-bump/">The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America</a>."/>

Philip Bump

New York

National columnist focused largely on the numbers behind politics

Education: Ohio State University

Philip Bump is a columnist for The Washington Post based in New York. He writes the weekly newsletter How To Read This Chart, to which you should subscribe. He's also the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America.
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Latest from Philip Bump

Have a few hours of clemency for federal crimes? Some suggestions.

President Joe Biden’s grant of clemency to his son Hunter included crimes that he still had a few hours to commit. As it turns out, he had a lot of options of what he could’ve gotten away with.

December 2, 2024
Hunter Biden during a Medal of Honor ceremony on July 3.

The Patel nomination inverts the rationalizations of GOP senators

In 2017, many endorsed the replacement of a controversial FBI leader with a steady one who could restore confidence. Now, they’re asked to replace that leader with a controversial one.

December 2, 2024
Kash Patel, former chief of staff to the defense secretary, speaks at a campaign rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Oct. 13.

Even its creator now admits that ‘2000 Mules’ is discredited

But the enormous damage caused by the obviously contrived film has already been done.

December 2, 2024
A still from “2000 Mules.”

The demise of the ‘public square’ argument for X

Elon Musk bought Twitter purportedly because he sought to defend the public square. What he’s created is something very different.

November 27, 2024
Elon Musk speaks before Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 27.

The Harris campaign’s ground game was not the problem

A recent assessment of the 2024 presidential contest suggested that Democrats needed to emulate right-wing outreach. But that’s different from turning out voters.

November 27, 2024
Hope Paasch, right, briefs volunteers Jacqui Shive, center, and Dorothy Bryan-Kanda in North Carolina's Iredell County on Nov. 4 before they go canvass for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sean Hannity neatly encapsulates the right’s hypocrisy on prosecutions

The charges against Donald Trump, Hannity insisted Monday, were unacceptable. He then immediately transitioned to a guest who wants to jail Democratic officials.

November 26, 2024
Fox News host Sean Hannity discussed the latest developments in the two of the prosecutions Donald Trump was facing on his Monday show.

What Americans believe about Trump depends on their politics

Democrats are more likely to have heard false claims about Donald Trump. They’re also more likely to have heard true, negative ones.

November 26, 2024
Television screens show Donald Trump speaking at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in October.

Americans want lower prices. Too bad: Trump wants tariffs.

The president-elect on Monday announced plans to demonstrate the tension between those concepts.

November 26, 2024
Train cars line a railroad depot in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2019.

Why Trump keeps insisting that his policy proposals are wildly popular

President-elect Donald Trump has fervent in-party support, which he presents as a “mandate” — so he can rationalize the “extreme power” he seeks.

November 25, 2024
Donald Trump holds a rally in Atlanta in late October.

Pam Bondi has shown how willing she is to use her authority to help Trump

What more could Donald Trump want in an attorney general pick?

November 22, 2024
Pam Bondi, seen here at a July 2021 event with Donald Trump, was tapped by the president-elect on Thursday for the role of attorney general.