Katie Couric torched for 'cringeworthy' condescension toward Trump supporters reminiscent of Hillary

Former NBC "Today" show host Katie Couric continued to receive backlash Tuesday after a diatribe against the purported ignorance of supporters of former President Trump that one critic compared to Hillary Clinton's infamous 2016 "deplorables" remarks.

Couric told liberal comic Bill Maher on his "Club Random" podcast that "socioeconomic disparities" and "class resentment" along with "anti-intellectualism and -elitism" is driving the populist, anti-establishment bent of Trump's supporters.

Couric suggested the United States' economic transition from industrial to technological has caused jealousy as well as a "corroding, bitter, almost bile feeling."

On "Outnumbered," co-host Harris Faulkner compared Couric's comments to those of Clinton, who told a New York City crowd while running against Trump in 2016 that half of such supporters of the Republican nominee can be categorized in a "basket of deplorables."

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Katie Couric speaks at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)

Clinton's remark received criticism and has been credited as one of the turning points in the campaign that led to Trump's upset victory.

"Not only are they out-of-touch, and look, Katie Couric used to be a great journalist …  I'm not really sure what lane she's in now, but it sounded like what she wanted to say was ‘basket of deplorables,’" Faulkner said.

Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier said the sight of Maher and Couric sitting in armchairs discussing such a topic was "rather cringeworthy" and that in a way, even with her own doctorate degree and place on the socioeconomic spectrum described by Couric, she, too, was offended by the ex-"Today" anchor.

"I don't even know what she's talking about at this point, and so I can't imagine what other people were feeling as well. And at the end of the day, yes, those who have higher socioeconomic stature, you know, they're not feeling the effects of the White House right now and the economics that are going on, the crime in their streets, in their neighborhoods and the cost of things at the grocery store," she said.

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"She's talking down on all these people who are actually suffering, and she just seems so out-of-touch with the American people, which kind of is what's been going on with the White House, the entire administration."

Saphier quipped that Couric might want to seek White House employment.

"Outnumbered's" "One Lucky Guy" on Tuesday, talk show host Ben Ferguson, echoed much of his co-panelists' sentiments, saying it reminded him of media figures assessing the need for "deprogramming" of Trump voters.

"It was like a coordinated effort by the left to say, ‘Hey, we need to deprogram all these crazies.’ I love this type of rhetoric from them because it goes back to the simple issue, ‘It's the economy, stupid,'" Ferguson said, quoting former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville's winning message from the 1992 presidential sweeps.

"If people are suffering and this is your response to that, that anyone that disagrees with you is somehow ignorant or stupid or dumb, then I think people are going to show up and vote to say, 'No, I'm actually concerned about providing for my family.'"

Ferguson also noted the average American worker doesn't have "Katie Couric money," which according to recent reports is upwards of $110 million. 

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..