CNN’s Abby Phillip Warns Dems They ‘Need To Break Out’ Of Echo Chamber: ‘Otherwise We Will Be Victims of Groupthink’

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.”

Watch above via Institute of Politics Harvard Kennedy School.