‘People’s Heads May Explode!’ Jen Psaki And Lis Smith Drop ‘Hard Truths’ on Key Trump Appeal

Tommy ChristopherOct 24th, 2025, 9:11 am
 

MSNBC’s Jen Psaki and Democratic strategist Lis Smith dropped some “hard truths” about the way Democrats should deal with a key strength of President Donald Trump’s — his political exploitation of immigration.

Psaki — a former Biden White House press secretary and current host of MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki — launched a podcast called The Blueprint with Jen Psaki this year, focused on Democratic strategy and lessons learned.

On this week’s episode, the two veteran politicos conceded that Trump was “right” about the importance of securing the border, and discussed how Democrats can translate that acknowledgment into effective strategy:

LIS SMITH: I actually wanted to read a line from an op-ed that Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi wrote in the New York Times over the weekend, because he said something that, frankly, is probably going to make a lot of your listeners’ heads explode.

JEN PSAKI: Your listeners too! People’s heads may explode!

LIS SMITH: And my head explode a little, but it’s worth hearing. He said “Democrats must concede that Donald Trump was right about the importance of securing the border. And he was right about the need to deport violent criminals who are in this country illegally.”.

Now, that same sentiment came up in an interview over the weekend between Ruben Gallego and the New York Times’ David Leon Hart, which I recommend to everyone to listen.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LIS SMITH: Similar sentiment. And look, I don’t think that this is an issue where Democrats always have to be on the defense and sort of playing Republican light or playing into their frame.

We absolutely should be going on the offense on the issue of these lawless ICE raids and mass deportations and making the moral case, yes, that people have been here for 30 years, shouldn’t be deported people have families, kids, all of that, they shouldn’t be separated.

But we need to go right at the core of Donald Trump and his administration’s rationale for these, that it is good for public safety.

And to that end, I also wanted to play sound from Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, when he was talking to the largest conference of police chiefs in the country. Just this past weekend.

MAYOR MIKE JOHNSTON: In Denver, yes, you’ll find if we stop you for a speeding ticket, we don’t ask your immigration status because it doesn’t matter as to whether you’re doing 65 and a 45 or not.

Because what we find is that makes our city safer. But here, we do not care whether you came from Cleveland or Caracas, you know you can trust the people in uniform every day in this city, and that makes Denver safe.

JEN PSAKI: It’s really good, and here’s why. He’s speaking about it in a way that people live and experience in their daily lives.

This is why sometimes I think mayors and even governors who are good at this speak about things in a much more accessible and a real way than members of Congress.

I will say that guy, I kept getting confused about his name because it’s like Little Mike Johnson, as I will always call him, little is attached to his name, and Denver mayor Mike Johnston, who is a different person. But that is a very good way of talking about it. The thing that I think we’ve sometimes lost, but I’m curious in your thoughts, is the ability or the willingness to be nuanced in how we talk about issues.

And this applies to immigration. It also applies, I think, to trans rights and trans issues. I mean, you can say, I could cry over some kids and families I talk to and I’ve talked to on my show about what they’ve gone through and the mental health challenges and the… What they need in order to be the person they are and they are meant to be.

And at the same time, I don’t understand the government paying taxpayer money going to pay for prisoners in jail who want to have gender-affirming care. That’s my view.

But there’s no space for nuance. And I think immigration is a space where nuance is strength. Nuances addressing and ways communities are really living it.

Watch above via MSNBC’s The Blueprint with Jen Psaki.

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