Shortly after NBC News’ Decision Desk called the presidency for Donald Trump at 5:31 a.m. ET, MSNBC‘s Jen Psaki talked about the implications of his return to the White House.
Psaki, the former press secretary under Joe Biden, said that it will be up to governors, elected officials and institutions to stand up to Trump.
She said, “For so many of you watching right now, that news is, to say the least, a lot to digest – I understand that personally.
“After he lost four years ago, he refused to accept the outcome and incited a violent insurrection on our Nation’s capital. He’s campaigned while facing criminal indictments related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 results, and he has run as a convicted felon. During his campaign, he has also promised to essentially be an authoritarian leader, to use power like no American president ever has before and wield that power to go after his political enemies. This is a man who has also bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade and stripping away women’s bodily autonomy. He has promised to conduct mass deportations to crack down on the rights of millions of Americans.
“Donald Trump is an anti-democratic force, but he has just been elected democratically in our country. And here’s what might be the hardest part to hear, but we have to talk about it, and we have to say, and it is a hard part to digest for all of us, but we have to be honest about what we saw in this election – Donald Trump was elected by expanding his support over a number of key groups.
She added, “There will be a lot of time spent on why and how he won, and what this will mean for the country over the course of the next four years and beyond. But in this moment, it’s important to remember that our democracy is not built around one person or one job, and I have every confidence that pro-democracy forces in this country will continue to stand up and make their voices heard – that’s what we saw after 2016 as well. Some of those voices will be governors, some will be elected officials, some will be institutions, and some will be organizations standing up for rights and standing up for women’s bodily autonomies and standing up for our climate.”