Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki joined Chuck Todd and Yamiche Alcindor to give her view of why Democrats are supposedly looking forward to facing Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Jen Psaki weighs in on 2024: "There’s nothing more unifying for Democrats than Donald Trump. That is the best fundraising tool, that is the best motivator, that unites progressives and moderates, or people somewhere in between.” pic.twitter.com/xv0eejMJvM
— Becker News (@NewsBecker) January 27, 2023
“So, to me, it is a party that I think is very much stuck on Trump until he bows out or until he is beat to a pulp by Ron DeSantis possibly,” Alcindor said.
“And I’d argue, Jen, in some ways, the current structure of Washington, even the Biden White House, even the congressional Democrats, in some ways, everything is organized, messaging-wise, around him,” Todd said.
“That’s true,” Psaki responded.
“I mean — right?” Todd said.
“Because people — there’s nothing more unifying for Democrats than Donald Trump,” Psaki remarked. “That is the best fundraising tool, that is the best motivator, that unites progressives and moderates, or people somewhere in between.”
“Papers over divisions,” Todd said.
“Completely papers over division. I do think, though — I mean, if you’re Donald Trump, why on earth would you step back at this point in time?” Psaki said. “If you look at all the polling over the last couple of months, yes —”
“There’s no reason to step back,” Todd said.
“There’s no reason. Yes, he may have a low ceiling, right, but he has a high floor,” Psaki said.
“He’s always had a low ceiling.” Todd remarked.
“He’s always had a low ceiling,” Psaki continued. “And his high floor means, if you’re him, you’re calling up Nikki Haley and you’re saying ‘Come on in, the water is fine! Get on in, all these candidates!’ Because what is bad for him would be running directly against Ron DeSantis.”
Jen Psaki should be careful what she wishes for. As it stands, Donald Trump would beat Joe Biden in a rematch by 46% to 41%, while DeSantis would edge out Biden by a narrower margin of 42% to 39%, according to a recent Harvard-Harris poll.
Follow Kyle Becker on Twitter @kylenabecker.