Democrats are still trying to reckon with their election loss. Donald Trump’s landslide victory has triggered a battle within the party over what went wrong and who’s at fault. But President Biden’s former White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, warns against playing the blame game. 

In a brand-new episode of Next Question, the MSNBC host says she has done a lot of introspection after Trump’s appeal was underestimated yet again. “I’ve tried to really force myself to, in this moment, be humble about what I misread and what I didn’t see, what many of us misread,” Psaki tells Katie. 

Psaki goes on to acknowledge the “huge disconnect” between voters and the Democratic Party, particularly on issues like abortion. 

“This was a very startling outcome in terms of the big shifts among many different demographic groups, Latino men, [and] young people,” she says. “The other thing I think that’s important to reflect on is just a misread of abortion politics. And what I mean by that is that most of the country believes in a woman’s right to make choices about her health care, bodily autonomy…Seven states voted to protect abortion rights and [some of those states] also voted for Trump.”

Now, she says Democrats’ searing loss has left a “vacuum” in leadership within the Democratic Party. But the former Biden official also argued that this could allow new leaders to emerge. She pointed to rising political stars, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who are in the national spotlight for vowing to protect their states from the incoming Trump administration. 

But this isn’t the first time the party has been at a crossroads, she points out. “No one thought [Obama] would have a chance of winning,” says Psaki. “He did…So we’ll see.”

Curious about what else Psaki has to say in her thought-provoking sit-down with Katie? She also shared what the results reveal about the American electorate and political messaging, as well as the effects of deep-seated gender bias and “wokeness” on public opinion.