When she was a child, the family briefly moved back to Trinidad and Tobago and returned to the U.S. when she was nine years old.

[10][11] In 2010, she graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in government,[12] after originally intending to study pre-med.

[14] Phillip began her journalism career as a White House reporter and blogger for Politico, covering campaign finance issues and lobbying.

[13][8][17] Before CNN, she worked at The Washington Post, where her roles included national political reporting and general assignments.

The weekend show is called Inside Politics Sunday With Abby Phillip.

[31] In August 2023, it was announced in a major weekday/weekend programming overhaul that Phillip would be named the permanent host of CNN's 10 p.m.