MSNBC's Jen Psaki warns Democrats against 'screaming' about Trump creating a constitutional crisis

MSNBC host Jen Psaki suggested Democrats stop "screaming" about President Donald Trump creating a constitutional crisis on Sunday and said the party should be focused on the people the president's policies are directly affecting. 

"I’m not a lawyer, but specifically because the Trump administration appears to be ignoring the court order to get the money flowing again. That is the potential for the constitutional crisis. But my view is that is not the phrase that Democrats should be screaming from the rooftops every day," Psaki said. 

NBC's Kristen Welker asked Psaki about the phrase, specifically in the context of the Department of Justice (DOJ) moving to dismiss the charges against Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

"It may be we’re on that road, but you need to be talking about how this is impacting your communities. The farmers I’ll reference, the people who rely on Medicaid, the veterans, the early childhood education kids who are relying on that. That is what we should be talking about. What Democrats should be talking about out there, because that is how you connect what is happening in Washington with communities in the country," she continued. 

MSNBC's Jen Psaki warned Democrats against "screaming" constitutional crisis. (Screenshot/MSNBC)

PSAKI SAYS DEMOCRATS FAIL TO ADDRESS ‘WHAT VOTERS ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT,' NEED TO BREAK SOME S---'

Democrats and pundits have sounded the alarm in the last few weeks, arguing that the president was creating a constitutional crisis through his executive action, and the legal challenges some of the orders have faced. 

Though some have pushed back on using the phrase, including MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos, who also warned that the country was not yet in a constitutional crisis. 

"The flurry of executive orders, the chaos, that I think doesn’t get us to crisis yet. It is irritating for the courts, it is challenging. It could lead to a serious problem if, as you said, they become too congested with dealing with these orders," he said.

Psaki took issue with some other moves by members of her party, including former Vice President Kamala Harris' decision to campaign with former Rep. Liz Cheney, an anti-Trump Republican. 

President Donald Trump arrives prior to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump at the United States Capitol on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States.  (Melina Mara - Pool/Getty Images)

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"I don't think closing the campaign with a message about fighting democracy with a former Republican member of Congress was the right strategy," Psaki told Jon Stewart on his "The Weekly Show" podcast on Friday.

During the same show, Psaki took aim at the language of Democratic Party elites. 

"I feel like when Democrats, and including people who are on television in a variety of ways, were saying things like, ‘Authoritarianism is under threat and democracy is on the ballot,’ I think we were speaking in a manner that was so academic and Ivory Tower, it wasn't talking about a lot of the things people actually care about," she said. 

Psaki added that one of her takeaways going forward was to "cross authoritarianism and oligarchy out of every script. Nobody talks this way."

Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.