Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki conceded on Sunday that if the Democratic Party allowed the fast-approaching midterm elections to be a referendum on President Joe Biden, they would certainly lose.
Psaki, who just recently transitioned from her gig at the Biden White House to a position at MSNBC, joined Sunday morning’s broadcast of “Meet the Press” — and she told anchor Chuck Todd that if the Democrats were wise, they would intentionally try to keep the focus on extremism, particularly within the Republican Party.
WATCH:
Jen Psaki on Biden:
“If [the midterms] are a referendum on the president, Democrats will lose.”
pic.twitter.com/laydYLdT2w— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) September 25, 2022
Todd began the segment with an ad put out by the Democratic Party against Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake — which appeared to connect abortion rights and crime — and asked whether Democrats were trying too hard to make the two issues meet.
“I’m not sure how this is either — really effective, or you’re trying to get the voter to take two issues and tie them together, you’re trying too hard, I don’t know,” Todd reacted to the ad. “But an interesting response.”
“Look, I think that Democrats — if the election is about who is the most extreme, as we saw, you know, Kevin McCarthy touch on there with Marjorie Taylor Greene, I’ll say her name, sitting over his left side, then they’re going to win,” Psaki said. “If it is a referendum on the president, they will lose.”
Psaki went on to name a few key issues — namely crime and the economy — and states in which those specific issues might play a pivotal role in driving people to the polls.
“Crime is a huge vulnerability for Democrats,” Psaki continued. “I would say one of the biggest vulnerabilities. And if you look at Pennsylvania, for example, what’s been interesting to me is it’s always you follow the money, and where are people spending money. And in Pennsylvania, the Republicans have been spending millions of dollars on the air on crime ads against [Democrat John] Fetterman because that’s where they see his vulnerability.”
“So, yes, the economy is hanging over everything,” Psaki concluded. “But you do have to look at state by state factors. And crime is a huge issue in the Pennsylvania race.”