Former ‘Today’ show host Katie Couric has declared that Democrats have ‘kind of lost’ the working class vote – due to being too out-of-touch.
The decorated Democrat aired the warning to former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco on her ‘Hysteria’ podcast Thursday, in hopes it does not prove prophetic.
As for her reasoning, Couric harked back to the days of Hillary Clinton and the first Trump campaign, when the former first lady slammed her rival’s supporters as a ‘basket of deplorables.’
The remark was met with outrage, and is often credited as one of the inciting moments to secure the political newcomer a historic upset.
Couric, a devout liberal, reminded onlookers that this very well could be the case again if Democrats don’t get back down to earth come November.
Former ‘Today’ show host Katie Couric on Thursday declared that Democrats have ‘kind of lost’ the working class vote – due to being too out-of-touch. The retired anchor is seen here talking about the election back in May on Fox 11 Los Angeles
As for her reasoning, Couric harked back to the days of the first Trump campaign, when his then-rival Hillary Clinton slammed his supporters as a ‘basket of deplorables’
‘I think that there needs to be a greater 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 ex Obama staffer.
‘It was never that way during all my years of covering politics,’ she went on.
‘You had the head of the Teamsters at the RNC, you have people buying into this notion that Republicans care about dinner table issues much more than Democrats.
‘And these narratives, I think, have become too deeply entrenched about liberal college-educated elites who are condescending.’
The longtime NBC News talker 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 RNC two days after the attempt on Donald Trump’s life.
In his speech, O’Brien blasted big businesses like Walmart and Amazon, while chiding the Chamber of Commerce and federal government for not looking out for workers.
‘The American people aren’t stupid, they know the system is broken,’ he said. ‘We all know how Washington is run. Working people have no chance of winning this fight.
‘That’s why I’m here today, because I refuse to keep doing the same things my predecessors did.’
Explaining her reasoning, the former CBS News journalist said, ‘You had the head of the Teamsters at the RNC,’referring to International Brotherhood of Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien speaking at the event last month
While stopping short of a full-fledged endorsement, he made it clear he does not support current VP Kamala Harris. he chided her and her running mate’s administration for not looking out for American workers
While he stopped short of a full-fledged endorsement, O’Brien said that ‘Trump is a candidate who is not afraid of hearing from new, loud and often critical voices,
‘And I think we all can agree, whether people like him or they don’t like him, in light of what happened to him on Saturday, he has proven to be one tough S.O.B.’
As he uttered the acronym, a round of applause was heard as cheers rained down from the auditorium – a sign that the tides may have already turned, according to Couric.
Nonetheless, the retired journalist told Mastromonaco, ‘They can’t just give up on that voting bloc.’
Instead, she said her party should tell blue collar workers, ‘Hey, we care about you, we care about your issues, we know a lot of things have really been hard…but this is how we’re going to help.
‘I just want to see her with a welding hat on, working with regular Joes,’ Couric said of Harris, instructing her to start appealing to ‘regular Joes.’
She added how Democrats need to do more work as well, stating their current connection to the working class will not be enough for a win.
‘I just want to see her with a welding hat on, working with regular Joes,’ Couric said of Harris
Earlier on in the sit down, Mastromonaco referred to the most recent anti-GOP mantra being used by Harris and Democrats against the Trump-J.D. Vance ticket – the singular word ‘weird.’
The simple descriptor has surfaced the new line of criticism against Republicans, despite it being party’s latest pandering buzzword meant to win over younger voters, after others – and several trends on TikTok – failed to stick.
‘Don’t you find some of their stuff to be just plain weird,’ Harris told a crowd in Atlanta just last week.
Mastromonaco, who worked for Obama from 2011 to 2014, defended the use of the label, while Couric, visibly unamused, suggested Democrats had more pressing matters at hand than pandering to social media users and Gen Z.
‘You can think their behavior and their rhetoric is weird,’ Couric said, ‘but you can also do a better job of reaching out to disaffected voters who are non-college educated White people, in particular who feel left out.’
Back in April, Couric, 67, appeared on another podcast where she spoke about the election, this with fellow liberal Bill Maher.
‘The socio-economic disparities…and class resentment…and anti-intellectualism and elitism is what is driving many of these anti-establishment [people] — which are Trump voters,’ she said at the time.
!['The socio-economic disparities...and class resentment...and anti-intellectualism and elitism is what is driving many of these anti-establishment [people] — which are Trump voters,' Couric said earlier this year](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/08/02/06/88068357-13700745-_The_socio_economic_disparities_and_class_resentment_and_anti_in-a-10_1722576367552.jpg)
‘The socio-economic disparities…and class resentment…and anti-intellectualism and elitism is what is driving many of these anti-establishment [people] — which are Trump voters,’ Couric said earlier this year
‘I mean globalization and the transition from an industrial to a technological society — I don’t know if you’ve ever been jealous of someone else or resentful — it is such a corroding and bitter, almost bile feeling,’
The comments, back then, left Trump supporters furious, with many onlookers blasting her as ‘out of touch’.
With Biden out of the race and Harris now the heir apparent, Couric’s new comments appear to indicate she has since ruminated on the thought, while expanding on it.
Many criticized the confidence exhibited by the Democratic party in the buildup to Trump’s win in 2016.
As of writing, Harris has yet to name a running mate, and she has yet be pegged as the official Democratic nominee. The election is 96 days away.
