Former ‘Today’ show host Katie Couric has said Democrats have “kind of lost” the working-class vote because they are too out of touch with reality.
The decorated Democrat conveyed the warning to former White House deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco in his The podcast ‘Hysteria’ Thursday, hoping it doesn’t turn out to be prophetic.
As for her reasoning, Couric harks back to the days of Hillary Clinton and Trump’s first campaign, when the former first lady criticized her rival’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables.”
The comment was met with outrage and is often credited as one of the triggering moments that secured the political newcomer a historic victory.
Couric, a staunch liberal, reminded viewers that this could very well happen again if Democrats don’t get back to reality in November.
Former “Today” show host Katie Couric said Thursday that Democrats have “lost” the working-class vote because they are too out of touch with reality. The retired anchor is shown here discussing the May election on Fox 11 Los Angeles.
As for her reasoning, Couric harks back to the days of Trump’s first campaign, when then-rival Hillary Clinton criticized his supporters as a “basket of deplorables.”
“I think there needs to be more of a connection between the working class and the Democratic Party because, let’s face it… the Democrats have kind of lost the working class,” Couric told the former Obama team member.
“It was never like that in all my years covering politics,” he continued.
‘You had the head of the Teamsters at the RNC, you have people buying into this notion that Republicans care about the issues on the table a lot more than Democrats.
“And these narratives, I think, have become too ingrained in college-educated liberal elites who are condescending.”
The veteran NBC News host had been referring to International Brotherhood of Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien, who became the first boss in the union’s 121-year history to speak at the Republican National Convention two days after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
In his speech, O’Brien criticized large corporations like Walmart and Amazon, while chiding the Chamber of Commerce and the federal government for failing to take care of workers.
“The American people are not stupid, they know the system is broken,” he said. “We all know how Washington is run. Workers have no chance of winning this fight.
“That’s why I’m here today, because I refuse to continue doing the same things my predecessors did.”
Explaining her reasoning, the former CBS News journalist said, “They had the head of the Teamsters at the Republican National Convention,” referring to International Brotherhood of Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien speaking at the event last month.
While he stopped short of giving a full endorsement, he made clear that he does not support current Vice President Kamala Harris. He rebuked her and her running mate’s administration for failing to take care of American workers.
While stopping short of giving a full endorsement, O’Brien said “Trump is a candidate who is not afraid to listen to new, strong and often critical voices.”
“And I think we can all agree, whether people like it or not, in light of what happened to him on Saturday, he’s proven himself to be a tough guy.”
When she uttered the acronym, a round of applause and cheers erupted from the auditorium, a sign that the tide may have turned, Couric said.
However, the retired journalist told Mastromonaco: “They can’t just give up on that voting bloc.”
Instead, he said his party should say to blue-collar workers: ‘Hey, we care about you, we care about your problems, we know a lot of things have been really difficult… but this is how we’re going to help.’
“I just want to see her in a welding helmet, working with regular people,” Couric said of Harris, instructing her to start appealing to “regular people.”
He added that Democrats also need to do more work and said their current connection with the working class will not be enough to secure a victory.
“I just want to see her in a welding helmet, working with regular people,” Couric said of Harris.
Earlier in the interview, Mastromonaco addressed the most recent anti-GOP mantra used by Harris and Democrats against the Trump-JD Vance ticket: the singular word “weird.”
That simple descriptor has sparked a new line of criticism against Republicans, despite being the party’s latest buzzword aimed at winning over younger voters after others (and several TikTok trends) failed to catch on.
“Don’t you think some of his stuff is just weird?” Harris told a crowd in Atlanta last week.
Mastromonaco, who worked for Obama from 2011 to 2014, defended the use of the hashtag, while a visibly upset Couric suggested Democrats had more pressing matters to attend to than pleasing social media users and Generation Z.
“You might think his behavior and his rhetoric are odd,” Couric said, “but he can also do a better job of reaching out to disaffected voters who are white, non-college-educated people, particularly those who feel left out.”
In April, Couric, 67, appeared on another podcast where she discussed the election, this time with fellow liberal Bill Maher.
“Socioeconomic disparities… and class resentment… and anti-intellectualism and elitism are what drives a lot of these anti-establishment people, who are Trump voters,” he said at the time.
“Socioeconomic disparities… and class resentment… and anti-intellectualism and elitism is what drives a lot of these anti-establishment people, who are Trump voters,” Couric said earlier this year.
“I’m talking about globalization and the transition from an industrial society to a technological one. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt jealousy or resentment toward someone else. It’s such a corrosive and bitter, almost bilious feeling.”
The comments at the time infuriated Trump supporters, with many calling her “out of touch.”
Now that Biden is out of the race and Harris is the heir apparent, Couric’s new comments seem to indicate she has since mulled that thought, though she has expanded on it.
Many criticized the confidence displayed by the Democratic Party in the run-up to Trump’s victory in 2016.
At the time of writing, Harris has yet to name a running mate and has not yet been identified as the official Democratic nominee. There are 96 days until the election.