Jen Psaki hits back at left's racial blame game for Harris' loss: 'That's not how democracy works'
MSNBC host Jen Psaki analyzed what Democrats "got wrong" about voters and their priorities while she criticized some of the rhetoric coming from the left.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki criticized liberal figures who are blaming "White women" or "Latinos" for Vice President Kamala Harris' election defeat.
"People who say it's the fault of all White women or the fault of Latinos, that's not how democracy works," Psaki told journalist Katie Couric on a new episode of iHeartPodcast's "Next Question with Katie Couric."
"I mean, people decide who they vote for, who they think will best represent their views. You either move people to do that or you don't," Psaki continued.
The former White House press secretary appeared on Couric's podcast to analyze "what went wrong" for the Democratic Party this election, after Republicans won control of the White House and both chambers of Congress in the November election.
While Psaki said no group of voters should be treated like a "monolith," she was shocked by the "startling" shifts toward Trump from voting blocs that have traditionally supported the Democratic candidate.
"It was not just White working class voters, it was beyond that," she said of Trump's gains with minority voters.
The pair also discussed the backlash to "woke" politics among voters within the Democratic Party.
"No one likes to be condescended to, or told that they have to hit a certain litmus test of things to be welcomed and invited to the party," Psaki said. "And I think sometimes people feel that way about the Democratic Party."
Both agreed that there's been a backlash to identity politics in the country among voters, before suggesting voters' "implicit bias" against a female presidential candidate also played a part in the election.
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"I think that some people don't even recognize their implicit bias," Couric said. "I have a friend who said, ‘I'm just worried that Kamala Harris doesn't have the stature to deal with world leaders.’ And I thought, ‘Wow.' And this was a very successful woman. And I thought, ‘Maybe just replace stature with penis.'"
"It was so perplexing to me. I was like, ‘Oh, this is someone who doesn’t realize her deep-seated implicit bias against female leadership," Couric continued.
Psaki and Couric also addressed how the media should cover Trump in his second term, with Psaki suggesting they should tamp down on outrage over the "crazy things" Trump says in its coverage.
"He is still a story. He's the President-elect of the United States. People can't not cover him or not talk about him. But I do wonder if the ‘react to the crazy thing he said’ is the most informative and right way we should be approaching things," she said.
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Couric agreed, arguing that the press often doesn't take time to try to understand Trump supporters or their priorities.
Reporters should have spent more time concentrating on these voters' concerns, rather than "mocking them," she continued.
"When you did see stories about Trump supporters, they were often mocking them. They were interviewing them. They didn't understand the issues. They were making fun of them, honestly," Couric remarked.
