Rachel Maddow on how she plans to cover Trump
In a USA TODAY exclusive, Rachel Maddow tells Gary Levin why she is heading back to MSNBC 5 days a week and how she plans to cover the Trump presidency.
Three years after leaving the White House podium behind, Jen Psaki is poised for primetime.
The first Biden-era press secretary is set to host a new MSNBC primetime show premiering May 6 with an aptly titled nod to her year as White House spokesperson. Her new marquee program “The Briefing,” airing Tuesday through Friday (9 ET/PT) replaces the network’s top-rated “Rachel Maddow Show” after Maddow finishes her 100-day weeknight run following President Donald Trump’s re-inauguration. (Alex Wagner was initially promised the slot in January, before a management change at MSNBC; “Maddow” will continue to air on Mondays.)
In May 2022, she became one of the first high-profile members to leave the Biden White House to become a contributor at MSNBC, where as a rising star she was elevated to the anchor desk with “Inside” in 2023. That show, currently on Sundays and Mondays, will end with Psaki’s move.
Despite the network’s leftward leanings, the mom of two (with husband Gregory Mecher) says she plans to cover Trump with a fresh approach.
“If you’re projecting that your show is only about insider views, that’s completely missing the moment,” Psaki, 46, says. “Insiders don’t have all the answers, so I wanted to change the name immediately.”
Jen Psaki steps into primetime role as marquee star at MSNBC
The former Obama White House communications director cut her teeth in political campaigns for two decades before her yearlong stint as White House press secretary in 2021, when she took a less combative approach to handling the press. Still, she garnered a loyal fanbase for her direct exchanges with reporters and blunt delivery, including infamous quarrels with Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy.
Now, she’s being handed the reins to replace the network’s biggest star amid dangerous political territory for Democrats, who lack majorities in both chambers of Congress and have faced an identity crisis since November, when former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump.
Psaki, who says there’s “only one Rachel Maddow,” plans to do things her own way on MSNBC with her Washington-based show, saying the pair “have very different backgrounds.”
“I obviously worked in government and politics, and I’ve been on more campaign buses and spent more time around the country than I can even recount at this point in time,” Psaki says.
“There are things that are going to be different about the show and the topics we talk about, and that will continue to be the case,” she says, adding that what’s “amazing about being at MSNBC is that you have an editorial freedom to try to share — to the best of your ability with your audience — insightful, useful information.”
Jen Psaki hopes to reach different audiences with MSNBC show
Psaki will be up against Sean Hannity of Fox News, who dominates cable-news ratings in that hour, and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who lags behind. To compete, she doesn’t plan to preach solely to liberal viewers like other MSNBC talent.
“Hosting a show at 9 p.m. is this tremendous opportunity and responsibility to speak to an audience of millions of viewers, right? And I take that with a level of seriousness and responsibility that I think it warrants, and that will be our focus,” Psaki says.
“(But) in this day in age, it doesn’t mean that at 10:01 you’re done,” she says, adding she plans to build on her platform with short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram which are popular among her viewers.
In the post-mortem of the election’s wakeup call for national Democrats, Psaki says that “like so many people, after the election in November, I had a moment of huge self-reflection. One of the lessons is, sometimes on the coasts and also when you spend too much time sitting behind an anchor desk with nice makeup on, you’re disconnected from the conversations people are actually having.”
And many Democrats don’t agree. “They may agree where they support broadly Democratic Party values, but they don’t agree on the strategy. They don’t agree on the policies. So, the self-described former “campaign rat” hopes to continue highlighting those kitchen-table talks on her new show.
Jen Psaki counts everyday Americans, Joe Burrow as MSNBC dream guests
The “Blueprint” podcast host also hopes that “The Briefing” will become a destination for presidential hopefuls.
“We hope and intend to have everybody who may run for president (and) people running for office on the show,” Psaki says, adding that other dream guests include everyday “people who can tell the story of what’s happening, because they’re living it.”
She hopes, too, to have Oscar winner George Clooney, billionaire Mark Cuban, comedian Chelsea Handler and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who has signaled some liberal views in the past.
“If I do my job and we do our job as a show team, we are helping people have a better understanding of what the heck just happened, how it impacts them and what people are doing about it.”
Contributing: Erin Jensen, USA TODAY
