Advertising

Former President Bill Clinton warned Democrats they are behind Republicans in the digital age and in their messaging to rural voters following Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss to President-elect Donald Trump.

Clinton sat with MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart for an interview, part of which aired on Morning Joe on Thursday. In one exchange, Clinton argued Democrats need to learn to be more relatable to voters. Capehart’s full interview with Clinton will air on his weekend show.

“Politics is the only business in which you can prove your authenticity by not knowing anything. And I think that’s a problem, and we’ll pay for it unless we get over it. But that’s a problem for the Democrats too. We have to learn to talk to people in ways that they can relate to,” he said.

Clinton said he told Harris’s campaign he was not interested in big rallies, but rather speaking directly to voters the party was not reaching. Part of this disconnect, according to Clinton, is that Democrats are oftentimes “not heard.” The former president argued conservatives have better placed themselves in digital media and “rural” voters have become “highly sophisticated” in how they get their news.

“I did my best to help this time, I don’t want to go to any big rallies and big television things. I just want to get in the country. Just

go out and talk to people. Because I think that we’re behind in the sense that a lot of the small town and rural people are now highly sophisticated in how they get their information and there are zillions of new websites now, all trying to advance their sort of conservative to right-wing radical cause,” he said. “And a lot of times, we’re not playing on the same field and we’re not even being heard. So I just said, send me out there, and I’ll see if I can’t do some good. I have no idea if I did, but I tried.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

Tags: Bill Clinton, Jonathan Capehart, MSNBC