Reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s “Deplorables” comment, veteran journalist Katie Couric now finds herself taking similar heat for referring to Trump voters as “anti-intellectuals.”
Couric made the comments on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast.
“The socio-economic disparities are a lot, and class resentment is a lot, and anti-intellectualism and elitism is what is driving many of these anti-establishment [people] — which are Trump voters — so, I think that is a huge problem that we have to address,” Couric told Maher.
“I mean, globalization and the transition from an industrial to a technological society — I don’t know if you’ve ever been jealous of someone else or resentful — it is such a corroding and bitter, almost vile feeling,” she added. “I think that when people who are really struggling see people who have everything and are on top of that looking down on them, it is just a recipe for such anger and resentment and grievance.”
The long-time and beloved host in certain circles, comments generated backlash on social media.
“I’ve never been a jealous person – and I find many of Trump supporters highly educated in vast arenas. I think Couric is a snob and a low-IQ commie. She’s lived inside her glass bubble so long she’s completely out of touch with reality,” one user posted to X, the New York Post reported.
“This is so disgusting and shows how out of touch she is. Make no mistake, this is how the media views Trump supporters,” posted another, according to the Post.
“This is what you call projection — blaming the other side for feeling a certain way when it’s actually you who feels that way,” another X-user said.
Maher pushed back on Couric’s assessment, saying that Trump voters see him as the only person standing “between us and madness.”
“Not to defend Trump, but to defend the people who still vote for him,” Maher said. “Because what they see on the other side, to them, is even more dangerous. Because it’s very close to home. ‘My kid is coming home from school, and he thinks he’s a racist.’ He’s 5. What have you been telling him? ‘My son thinks maybe he’s not a boy,’ and maybe that’s true, that happens. Those things are what they say, ‘That’s why I’m voting for Trump.'”