Screenshot via Institute of Politics Harvard Kennedy School
CNN’s Abby Phillip cautioned Democrats about increasing echo chambers, saying she’s noticed a disconnect in the party’s “activist class” and that “elites increasingly talk only to each other.”
The NewsNight
anchor spoke at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics this week and mainly spoke on political divisiveness following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the election. Phillip praised her own show as a place where viewpoints are “tested” as she often has on pundits that are both pro and anti-Trump.
Phillip said:
“I have observed that elites increasingly talk only to each other and come to believe that because there is consensus among them that that consensus is shared broadly and there are not enough voices that are confident enough to disagree and to present alternatives. And we as a society need to find better ways to uplift divergent voices. Otherwise, we will be victims of groupthink. And there is a there there is an activist class, and this is particularly acute in the Democratic Party right now, there is an activist class in the Democratic Party that is multiracial, multiethnic. It is diverse, but it’s an activist class. And so because of that, they don’t they’re not able to see outside of that.”
Phillip argued Republicans “had the same problem” before Trump, but he “broke them out of that.” Democrats, she added, are now facing the same problem.
She said:
“Democrats are in that place now where they have to break out of it. And I think it is a real problem. It’s not as simple as wokeness or whatever. It’s about people who are being incentivized to think about issues in a particular way. And usually it’s it’s that light switches either on or off. There’s no nuance because they they’re activists like they’re paid to kind of be in this lane and if you’re somewhere in between, then what’s the point? But most people are not in one lane or another.”
Phillip called for “more courage” for Democrats to “speak out” with diverging opinions otherwise they will continue losing ground with rural voters and other groups.
“There needs to be more courage among people to speak out and to voice diverging opinions,” she said. “Otherwise, you know, I think it’s a I think it’s a real issue, and it’s not just the Ivy League. I think it’s elitism in general.”
Revelations about a relationship between the author and a woman who was 16 when they met shocked readers, but not scholars of his work. Now there’s a debate about how much she influenced his writing.
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Matt Gaetz has withdrawn from consideration for attorney general but many of Donald Trump’s other nominees continue to draw controversy. On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss Trump’s other equally improbable Cabinet choices, and what could come next for these nominees.
With the announcement of Gaetz’s withdrawal, much attention has now turned to Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, who, like Gaetz, also faces allegations of sexual assault. “The senators to watch on this nomination are going to be not just the national-security hawks but female Republican senators like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who are always the wild cards, but also someone like Senator Joni Ernst,” Andrew Desiderio said last night. Although Ernst has been complimentary thus far about Hegseth’s nomination, Desiderio explained, she has also been open about her support for women in combat roles, something that Hegseth has spoken out against.
As for longtime Republican lawmakers, questions still remain over how their reactions to Trump’s Cabinet picks will play out in the confirmation process. Are we going to see Mitch McConnell “lead an insurgent faction now that he’s not going to be the Senate leader?” Goldberg asked panelists last night.
“There might be a story of what he does behind closed doors compared to what you see publicly,” Zolan Kanno-Youngs said. No longer serving as the leader of his party, “he now does not need to worry about managing the factions of the Senate” and, given his past criticism of Trump, McConnell “now has the leeway to be more outspoken.”
Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to discuss this and more: Laura Barrón-López, a White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour; Andrew Desiderio, a senior congressional reporter at Punchbowl News; Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent at The New York Times; and Ashley Parker, a senior national political correspondent for The Washington Post.
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One of the most humbling parts of being alive is realizing you’ve long been doing a simple thing wrong—or, at least, not in the way experts say you should be doing it. Did you know that the best time to apply deodorant is right before bed? Or that you should get rid of your black plastic spatulas? Or that you probably shower too much?
Being hit with these truths can feel unmooring. What if some of your reflexive daily rituals need to be reconsidered? But there’s power in the knowledge too. Today’s newsletter explores our ever-evolving understanding of how humans live, and what’s best for us.
On Our Habits
Your Armpits Are Trying to Tell You Something
By Yasmin Tayag
The best time to apply antiperspirant is right before bed. Seriously.
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I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. “In my garden, I was mesmerized by this dahlia’s fractal symmetry, a kaleidoscope in nature,” Monica Shah from Edison, New Jersey, writes.
Donald Trump’s new attorney general pick Pam Bondi appears easily positioned to pick up the mantle on his goal of overhauling DOJ and his pledge for retribution.
