MSNBC host Jen Psaki didn’t hold back. She slammed a common Democratic media tactic as "the worst media training advice."
"The worst, worst media training advice… people give is 'answer the question you want to answer,'" Psaki said on The Bulwark's "The Focus Group" podcast. "That is the freaking worst advice, especially for this moment in time."
She said it doesn’t matter who’s doing the interview. Voters notice when politicians dodge questions. "People at home are like, 'What in the hell?'" she said.
Psaki called the pivoting style disrespectful. Instead of real answers, people hear rehearsed lines about "roads and bridges" when they asked about Elon Musk.
She urged Democrats to get real. "Rip the talking points up," she said. "Decide what you think authentically."
"You're going to piss people off out there," she added. "Guess who pissed people off a lot when I was there? Barack Obama."
She wants Democrats to show more personality. "Let the quirky flags fly," she said. Show you're "human beings who are interesting and funny and quirky and sporty."
This isn’t her first warning. On Jon Stewart’s podcast last month, she scolded Democrats for using elite language. “Cross authoritarianism and oligarchy out of every script. Nobody talks this way.”
Her comments come as the party struggles with sinking numbers. CNN and NBC News both showed record low approval ratings for Democrats—just 29% and 27% respectively.