Jen Psaki pinpointed a character trait that connects much of former president Donald Trump’s Republican competition in the 2024 presidential primary: They are all “Trump apologists” who refuse to denounce the top-polling candidate’s “attempted coup.”
“Right now, they are all on track to be a footnote in the history books, an asterisk in the also-ran category — maybe an answer on ‘Jeopardy on a good day,’” Psaki posited, specifically noting former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. “Nobody remembers the guy who got 2% in Iowa and dropped out shortly after. But they will remember the folks who put politics over country and refused to stand up for our democracy.”
The evisceration came Monday night as Psaki filled in for Chris Hayes on MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes.” Responding to an interview Pence gave Sunday, in which he said Trump’s “words were reckless” but he’s “not yet convinced that they were criminal,” Psaki ran through comments made by Pence, DeSantis and Scott as proof that the former president’s main competition isn’t willing to go after the twice-indicted opponent.
“To me, it seems pretty obvious that the other 2024 Republican candidates might want to jump on these charges. You’d think that some of his opponents would try to maybe land a punch or two or five on the frontrunner,” Psaki said. “Or maybe they would want to speak up simply because it’s the right thing to do — wouldn’t that be nice? Since when has standing up for American democracy been a partisan thing, anyway? Never really has been before the last couple years. But Trump’s opponents clearly do not see it that way.”
The MSNBC host and former press secretary for the Biden White House then pulled up a clip of DeSantis saying he hopes Trump “doesn’t get charged” in the indictments against him and that he doesn’t “think it serves us good to have a presidential election focused on what happened four years ago in January.”
Then, after calling Scott the “supposed middle-of-the-road guy who’s worked with Democrats before,” Psaki pulled up a quote from him next: “I don’t hold the former president who didn’t show up at the Capitol and threatened my life as responsible,” he said.
“So it seems that nearly all of the serious contenders to take on Trump have basically made the political calculation that it’s better to stand by him in the primary,” Psaki said. “But here’s the thing: It is not working. Mike Pence might not even make the debate stage. DeSantis is still running 30 points behind in Iowa despite betting big, according to his aids, on the Hawkeye State. And right now, Tim Scott is losing his own state of South Carolina by nearly 40 points.”
Psaki added that the never-Trumpers on the ballot like Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson aren’t having much better luck at the polls for speaking out against the former president.
“But at least Hutchinson and Christie have clearly made the calculation that they won’t be remembered as enablers by the history books,” she said. “That’s worth something.”
“The rest of the field, though, is in a position where they are effectively enabling a guy who led an attempted coup. And for what? To maybe win a handful of delegates? I’m, like, seriously asking you this: What are they trying to get out of this? Does Nikki Haley want to be the vice president that badly? Is Tim Scott hoping to be made secretary of commerce? What is it?” Psaki said, later adding: “Right now, they are all on track to be a footnote in the history books, an asterisk in the also-ran category. Maybe an answer on ‘Jeopardy’ on a good day. Nobody remembers the guy who got 2% in Iowa and dropped out shortly after. But they will remember the folks who put politics over country and refused to stand up for our democracy.”
Watch Psaki’s full “All In” segment in the video above.
