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President of the White House Correspondents' Association, Eugene Daniels, has become a popular name on the internet, specifically because netizens have been comparing his appearance to comedian Jordan Peele.
Daniels is a Playbook author for Politico and a White House correspondent. As per the WHCA website, Daniels is a "Morning Joe" contributor and political analyst for the U.S. cable news channel MSNBC, wherein he makes appearances reporting and analyzing the biggest news pieces in D.C.
Recently, news of Eugene Daniels leaving Politico to join MSNBC as a co-host for a roundtable show started making rounds on the internet. The reaction netizens gave to the news wasn't related to Daniels' switch to the news channel but was a comparison of his resemblance to Jordan Peele.
X began buzzing with multiple memes comparing Daniels to the comedian, wherein an X user tweeted:
"No way that isn't jordan peele," an X user mentioned.
"wait, so that’s not Jordan Peele in drag..? Eugene Daniels is a real person?!" an internet user commented.
"You’re telling me, that isn’t Jordan Peele doing a skit?!" a netizen jokingly questioned.
"I honestly thought this was Jordan Peele for a second," another netizen admitted.
More details about White House correspondent Eugene Daniels explored
Eugene Daniels graduated from Colorado State University in 2012 and started his career in local television in Colorado Springs. In 2016, Daniels covered the primary and general elections, as well as national politics, as a political reporter at Newsy. He joined Politico in 2018.
After joining Politico, Daniels covered the midterms, primary, and general elections via video journalism, print media, and podcasts. He focused on former First Lady Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, and Doug Emhoff in addition to upcoming power players in Washington during his stint at Politico. Moreover, he is the first out LGBTQ and first Black co-author of Politico's Playbook.
In 2020, Eugene Daniels moderated Politico's Confronting Inequality Town Hall series, wherein inequalities in housing, education, policing, and employment in the U.S. were discussed.
"Leaders don't get to pick the people who cover them": Eugene Daniels comments on change in the press pool accompanying the president
On February 25, 2025, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the White House would be changing the structure of the press pool comprising a group of journalists who travel with the President and share information with news organizations.
Leavitt mentioned that the White House will determine which news outlets would be a part of the press pool. However, the process concerning the press pool till now featured a rotation of the White House Correspondents' Association's members.
During an interview with NPR dated February 25, 2025, Eugene Daniels was asked how he views the White House's recent decision to control the press pool as an attack on the First Amendment. Commenting on the same, Daniels said:
"Because at the end of the day, in free countries, like the United States is, leaders don't get to pick the people who cover them day in and day out. The WHCA, our job has been - for many, many years, as you know - to not keep people out."
Daniels mentioned that the WHCA constantly brings in new organizations and outlets to the pool.
The Washington Free Beacon’s report dated February 25, 2025, describes Daniels as a walking encyclopedia on Beyoncé, adding that the WHCA president has a bold fashion sense.
