Psaki throws social media ally Twitter under the bus: ‘Very white, very coastal’

In what could be an early tip of the hand on how the left would respond if billionaire Elon Musk is successful in his hostile takeover bid of Twitter and restores some semblance of free speech, outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki was highly critical of the social media platform, suggesting it was an echo-chamber reflecting the views of only about 20 percent of the public.

In an interview with former CNN chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin that was published Tuesday, Psaki blasted Twitter as “very white,” “very liberal” and “very coastal.” An assessment that could be equated to a “take my ball and go home” mentality.

While discussing “hard issues in the country,” as Psaki put it, Yellin took note of many on the right focusing on the cultural war going on in America today.

“What’s mystifying to me is all the Republicans I know do not identify with that part of the Republican Party. They’re sort of astonished this is happening from where you sit,” she said. “Why is this far-right fringe ideology moving into the mainstream? Do you think it’s a function of social media of partisan news sources? Or is it Trump’s legacy?”

“Probably a combo. We certainly know that there is a fear of Trump or a commitment or a dedication to Trump that still exists among many, many, many in the Republican Party who don’t know what to do and may privately disagree with him in many ways,” Psaki responded.

She then called out Twitter by name, offering a harsh assessment.

“What’s also true is that we’re dealing with an incredibly fractured media environment and an incredibly fractured social media environment that promotes extreme right, promotes extremes,” she said. “And you know, I saw some statistic the other day about Twitter. I mean, I use Twitter. Every reporter uses Twitter. I don’t think we should deny it. We all use it. But we’re basically talking to ourselves right on Twitter, on cable. All of these things.”

“And if you look at the statistics, you know, only about 20 percent of the public, maybe less is on Twitter. Twitter is very white, it’s very liberal, it’s very coastal,” Psaki continued. “And sometimes it becomes a self-perpetuating thing. Where Twitter drives media coverage, media coverage drops Twitter. It becomes this circle that may not be identified with where people in the public are. But it’s hard to know.”

Psaki is expected to leave the administration soon to take a gig at MSNBC, following in the footsteps of Symone Sanders, who was the chief spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris before leaving to host a weekend show on the network.

Turns out, social media users weren’t entirely in agreement with Psaki’s take … here’s a quick sampling of responses from Twitter:

Tom Tillison

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