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.
Share confidential news tips with The Post
Latest from Philip Bump

A quick explanation of how bomb threats work, to help JD Vance

There were threats to people and places in Springfield, Ohio, after Vance and Trump made false claims about Haitian immigrants. The media isn’t to blame.

September 17, 2024
Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance speaks Sept. 16 in Atlanta.

Something odd happened: There’s a candidate Americans (sort of) like

Or, at least *mostly* like. For now.

September 17, 2024
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign rally at the McHale Athletic Center at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Sept. 13.

Trump is spending the last weeks of the campaign trying to make money

Is Trump shilling for crypto to make money or get votes?

September 17, 2024
Former president Donald Trump during a bitcoin conference in July.

Vance demands we ‘love our neighbors,’ perhaps surprising Haitians

At a Faith & Freedom Coalition dinner, the Republican vice-presidential candidate lamented partisan hostility without any apparent awareness of the irony.

September 17, 2024
Vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) prepares to speak at the Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition dinner in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Gen Z women are the future Republicans were so worried about

Since 2016, the views of young women have shifted sharply to the left.

September 16, 2024
A professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., speaks with students as they register to vote in 2022. (Evan Cobb for The Washington Post)

Another chance for Trump to frame Democrats as dangerous has emerged

Trumpworld is eager to have Americans blame his opponents’ rhetoric for assassination attempts — both to nullify their arguments and to cast Trump as a victim.

September 16, 2024
Attendees chat while they wait for former president Donald Trump to speak at a rally on Friday. (Ronda Churchill for The Washington Post)

JD Vance explains the political utility of anti-immigrant hostility

The Ohio senator’s effort Sunday to defend his virulent, racist rhetoric about immigrants eating pets was remarkably dishonest.

September 16, 2024
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) talks with patrons at Sup Dogs restaurant in Greenville, N.C., on Saturday.

Laura Loomer is a symptom. Trump’s problem is his own.

The proximity of Loomer — a prominent online conspiracy theorist — to Trump has prompted hand-wringing from his allies. But the problem lies with Trump.

September 13, 2024
Laura Loomer walks by as former president Donald Trump visits the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company in Shanksville, Pa., on Wednesday.

Trump once faced 91 charges. Now he faces 12.

In part, that’s because he’s been convicted on 34 felony counts in New York. But it’s also because half have been tossed out.

September 13, 2024
Former president Donald Trump returns to Trump Tower after being convicted in a criminal trial in New York on May 30.

Post-debate, Trump consoles himself with (other people’s) faith

The former president highlighted polling of evangelical voters that doesn’t say what he seems to think.

September 12, 2024
Supporters in Johnstown, Pa., pray before a campaign rally by former president Donald Trump on Aug. 30.