CNN host tells Democrats that party is dominated by ‘elites’ who risk ‘groupthink’

CNN host Abby Phillip called on the Democratic Party to reject “groupthink” and allow for viewpoints to be heard, especially in news media and in elite circles like the Ivy League. 

“You can create interesting content that is not safe,” Phillip said in a panel at Harvard Kennedy School, first noted by Mediaite. “We’ve had some moments that are not comfortable happen at the table.” 

Phillip, a graduate of Harvard University, said that elites, especially in the Democratic Party, increasingly only build consensus in conversations with each other. 

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“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,” Phillip said. 

“We as a society need to find better ways to uplift divergent voices. Otherwise, we will be victims of groupthink,” she continued. 

Phillip also directly referenced an influential “activist class” in the Democratic Party. 

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“And 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,” Phillip said. “It is diverse, but it’s an activist class. And so because of that, they’re not able to see outside of that.”

Phillip said that Republicans faced the “same fundamental issue” before President-elect Trump “broke them out of it.” 

“Democrats are in that place now where they have to break out of it,” she said. “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 that light switches either on or off. There’s no nuance because they’re activists. 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.”

“There needs to be a greater understanding of that,” Phillip said. 

“There needs to be more courage among people to speak out and to voice diverging opinions,” she added. “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.”