“It feeds into the politicization the other side is accusing” Biden of, says former WH press secretary.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki warned fellow pundits Rachel Maddow and Stephanie Ruhle not to openly celebrate the conviction of former President Donald Trump, because it confirms the weaponized politicization of which Trump has accused Democrats.
“Hey guys, don’t go out there and celebrate. This is still going to be an extremely close race and there’s a lot of things that we need to battle over,” Psaki said.
“What I think is happening in strategy meetings with the president right now is a discussion of what he’s going to say when asked. And I don’t think he’s going to say ‘yeah I’m running against a convicted felon.’ That’s not his style nor do I think he should say that because I do think it feeds in the politicization that the other side is accusing him of.”
Jen Psaki debates with Rachel Maddow and Stephanie Ruhle whether it is good optics to ‘spike the football’ on Trump and MAGA:
JP: “Don’t go out there and celebrate. What I think is happening in strategy meetings right now is a discussion of what he’s going to say when asked.”… pic.twitter.com/YiRVWRGpDj
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) May 31, 2024
Psaki went on to say the Biden campaign sees “the debate as a big moment, not necessarily to battle over the legal cases” because “they don’t want the legal cases to be the base of the campaign.”
But Ruhle shot back, “Take a win when you have one.”
She added, “And I’m not saying they should go out and say to Democrats, ‘Let’s go celebrate today’, but just like Donald Trump, seconds after the verdict, he’s boom, out there with a fundraising screen.”
Psaki, who served as Joe Biden’s former press secretary, reminded Ruhle that Biden and Democrats are fundraising off Trump’s conviction too.
“But the Biden campaign is fundraising too,” Psaki said. “They’re all fundraising. So in some ways they’re politicizing it as well. Everybody is politicizing it. They’ll all probably raise like record amounts of money.”
Maddow argued that Biden has had no qualms insulting or belittling Trump in the past.
“He called him a six year old. I think he can call Trump a felon,” Maddow said.
Psaki again pushed for moderation, saying, “They have to figure out what his style is, that’s going to be authentic coming out of his mouth.”
But Ruhle countered, “I say, how about this moment be a street fight?”
Trump received a 6-point bump in approval after he was found guilty in New York and his campaign raked in about $39 million in a 10-hour period after the conviction.
BREAKING: New Daily Mail poll says Trump received a 6-point bump in approval after he was found guilty in New York City.
According to the poll, 22% of people said they ‘now have a more favorable’ rating of Trump while 16% said they viewed him more negatively.
“That six-point… pic.twitter.com/cPlOlwtt4S
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 31, 2024
