Jen Psaki on Her New MSNBC Show and Trump’s ‘Dangerous’ Presidency
Jen Psaki is launching a new MSNBC show Tuesday night, at a dark time: four-and-a-half months into Donald Trump’s second presidency.
The headlines leading up to the premiere of The Briefing have been about Joe Biden’s decline — and whether Psaki, who served as Biden’s White House press secretary from 2021-22, believes Democrats engaged in a cover-up.
I was ready to ask Psaki about Biden’s health, too, when we spoke last week. After all, Biden’s decision to run for president again was a historic, unforgivable fuck-up, and a major reason why Trump was elected president a second time.
The night before our interview, Trump held a rally commemorating his first 100 days in office again. There, Trump played a video of the hundreds of immigrants his administration shipped — renditioned, really — to prison in El Salvador without due process, as they were manhandled by guards and had their heads shaved. He bragged about this flagrant assault on the rule of law as the MAGA crowd whooped and hollered at the rank dehumanization unfolding onscreen.
This is where we are at — at least, where we were on the 101st day of the second Trump administration. (The past week was no less depraved.)
Psaki will host The Briefing Tuesday through Friday at 9 p.m. Longtime MSNBC host Rachel Maddow will continue to anchor the time slot on Monday. Given the opportunity in primetime, how does Psaki plan to cover Trump’s increasingly authoritarian administration, the state of his Democratic opposition, and this perilous moment in time?
Psaki says Trump’s second administration may well be “the most dangerous presidency in my lifetime.” It’s “not just because of what he’s doing day to day,” she says, “but because his desire seems to be to reshape how our government works, how our system works, to impact things for decades to come.”
Speaking about Trump’s El Salvador rally video, Psaki says that “things should be seen through the prism of: Fear is the point. Cruelty is the point. Making people who are here legally in the country scared is the point. And that is his motivation, because he thinks that’s a winning political argument.”
In January, Psaki spoke about why Democrats lost the 2024 election, and how the American people are “not waiting for someone to lead them out of fascism.” Rather, she said, “They’re waiting for people to listen to them and actually engage with them in their communities about what they want from the government.”
The clip went viral. All indications are her take that day was exactly right: Americans voted for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in large part because of their dissatisfaction with a brutal economy that doesn’t work for them. Voters, and nonvoters, were less concerned about protecting America’s democratic institutions, which aren’t doing much for them.
The cruel irony, I note as we speak, is that Trump is now giving Americans all the fascism his critics warned about, combined with staggering economic mismanagement that is likely to make their lives harder.
“Of course, we are under a version of authoritarian rule here,” says Psaki. “There’s an aspiring dictator — or existing dictator, however you look at it — leading the country. He’s ignoring court orders. All of that is true.”
She clarifies that what’s important is to help people who are struggling to get by — those who are too focused on their daily lives to consume the news every day — understand how Trump’s actions are affecting them personally. That means pointing out not only that Trump is “operating like there’s no checks on his power” and “surrounding himself with a bunch of rich people padding their pockets,” but that “it’s hurting you, and here’s how.”
“This is more a critique of the party that I worked in for 20 years,” Psaki continues. “It’s not the responsibility, in my view, of the media to have to be the directors of messaging for the Democratic Party in any way. That’s up to people running for office and people leading the Democratic Party.”
She’s correct: It’s not the media’s job to give Democrats messaging advice — not even someone like Psaki, who worked on messaging efforts for Democratic politicians, including Biden and Barack Obama, for years before joining MSNBC. On the other hand, someone probably should?
As Psaki recently pointed out on MSNBC, Trump’s approval ratings have fallen through the floor, but Democrats are not gaining ground. The American public views the Democratic Party negatively — and the Democratic base is growing increasingly disenchanted with their leaders.
“The public is questioning whether people in the Democratic Party running for office, or in elected office, or in leadership, are actually fighting for them,” Psaki says. “You know what that tells you? Start fighting.”
She points out that some Democrats are working to change that perception, noting that Sen. Chris Van Hollen went to El Salvador and successfully pressured the right-wing government to allow him to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man whom Trump illegally deported there.
She notes Sen. Cory Booker’s recent 25-hour speech slamming Trump on the Senate floor. She points to a speech in New Hampshire by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in which he called out “do-nothing Democrats” who would rather “blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants — instead of their own lack of guts and gumption.” She notes that Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been “showing up in red states to hold rallies — that’s fighting.”
Psaki says that “only the public can decide what they’re going to connect with” — but notes that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “talking about sending ‘strongly worded letters’” rather than taking real action, isn’t likely to win anyone over.
“This is not a time for strongly worded letters,” she says, “and I think most people in the public, even people who would support him, would agree with that.”
Leading a primetime news show, Psaki recognizes she has a “tremendous opportunity and responsibility” to cover both Trump’s increasingly lawless administration and a Democratic Party that’s searching for leadership.
She’s excited to be able to platform “emerging” Democratic voices like Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar, Rep. Maxwell Frost, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and others who may be part of the party’s “next generation of leaders.”
“For a long time, through most of my time in the political world, there’s been sort of a set group of people who have been seen as the party leaders,” she says. “It doesn’t meet the horror on the other side, in terms of being equal, but it is an exciting thing to watch.”
