Jen Psaki Says Democrats Messed Up By ‘Lifting Up’ Never Trump Republicans: ‘Not the Winning Coalition’

MSNBC’s Jen Psaki pointed to Democrats embracing anti-Trump Republicans as part of the reason Vice President Kamala Harris came up short this week against President-elect Donald Trump.

Psaki, the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden, joined Morning Joe on Friday to reflect on the presidential race and what missteps Democrats made. Psaki argued Democrats had the wrong messaging around multiple issues, including abortion.

“We completely misread abortion politics in this country and what I mean by that is not that it isn’t an issue that people deeply care about. They clearly do. Obviously those seven referendums are an example of that, but millions of people in this country voted for Donald Trump, a person who put in place the people on the Supreme Court who overturned abortion rights and also voted to protect abortion rights. That was a huge misread,” she said.

Psaki added there was too much “listening” and “lifting up” of Republicans who ditched their party to endorse Harris. The vice president’s team often boasted about having a “coalition” that stemmed from the far-left all the way to former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney endorsed Harris, and the latter even campaigned with her.

Psaki called this another misread for Democrats, saying the “Never Trumpers” from the right are “not the winning coalition”:

The other thing I think Democrats and people who voted for Harris and are scared about Trump should be sober and curious about is why did people move toward Trump, but why did Democrats not come out and turn out for Kamala Harris and not turn out for the Democrats?

There were many headwinds here. There was sexism, there was racism, all of that is true, but I also think there is a real question I hope people start looking at about who people are listening to. In my view, there was an over-listening to and an over-lifting up of people who left Trump, not people who left the Democratic Party. The people who left the Democratic Party are the people who are going to win in the future. The people who left Trump, the Never Trumpers who have important voices — that is not the winning coalition and I think that is the takeaway.

Watch above via MSNBC.