Kristen Welker goes all 'Pauline Kael' on us, expressing astonishment that President Trump's lead is extending in the polls

Beneath that facade of 'objectivity' seen in network news, Meet the Press host Kristen Welker accidentally let her own cat out of the bag.

According to the Huffington Post:

NBC News’ Kristen Welker, on Sunday’s broadcast of “Meet The Press,” expressed her surprise at new polling over a potential 2024 election between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

They involved “some truly stunning numbers,” she told colleague Steve Kornacki.

“They really are,” Kornacki agreed. “When you ask folks, ‘Hey, if it’s the general election and it’s Trump versus Biden,’ in our poll, Donald Trump now leads Joe Biden by five points. Compare that to the last time we pulled [sic] back in November. Trump was ahead then, but it was only by two points.”

...

On voters’ confidence in handling the U.S. economy, Kornecki pointed to Trump’s 55% rating and Biden’s 33%.

Wow,” said Welker.

The video is here:

 

 

To hear that breathy performance about voter sentiment, and to explain that voters aren't giving Joe Biden "credit" for his abysmal economy is nothing short of stunning. This person is obviously out of touch with what grocery prices are like, new taxes are like, a loss of law and order are like, and what open borders mean for such voters. To normal people, it's obvious why they favor President Trump, but for Welker, well, she doesn't know any such people.

That's what's known as the old Pauline Kael problem seen in the palmy reaches of the insular eastern seaboard establishment. Kael was the film critic for The New Yorker for many years who supposedly said she was surprised that Richard Nixon won re-election because she didn't know anyone who voted for him. The story itself was kind of misreported and she never said exactly that, but the message resonated which was why it stuck to her.

According to her Wikipedia entry:

In December 1972, a month after U.S. President Richard Nixon was reelected in a landslide victory, Kael gave a lecture at the Modern Language Association, during which she said, "I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they [Nixon's other supporters] are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them." An article on the lecture in The New York Times included this quote.[79][80]

Kael was subsequently misquoted as having said, "I can't believe Nixon won. I don't know anyone who voted for him" or a similar sentiment that expressed surprise at the election result.[81] This misquote became an urban legend, and has been cited by conservatives (such as Bernard Goldberg, in his 2001 book Bias) as an example of insularity among the liberal elite.[82][83] The alleged quote has also been variously attributed to other writers, such as Joan Didion.[84]

Which pretty well sounds like Welker, goggling at President Trump's rising popularity and astonished that voters just don't appreciate all the wonders Joe Biden has done for them.

Had she really known people who were planning to vote for Trump (perhaps she can venture into Harlem or the South Bronx where Trump-love is big among the locals) she'd never would have made such a silly breathless remark.  

But the swamp is an exclusive club, and they don't let 'deplorables' or their kind in. So, Welker could only be astonished. It was like the sun was rising in the west for her.

One only wonders what her face will look like on Election Day come November. In the meantime, maybe let's not disabuse her of her illusions. We want it to be a surprise for her.

Image: Screen shot from NBC News video, via YouTube

 

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