MSNBC’s Jen Psaki slammed President Donald Trump for hiring pro-MAGA conspiracy theorist Heather Honey, a so-called “election denier” who has spread false information about voter data, as the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy assistant secretary for election integrity. In her new role, which did not exist under former President Joe Biden’s administration, she will be responsible for overseeing how U.S. elections are facilitated.
“Let that soak in for a second,” Psaki said during her Tuesday segment of “The Briefing.” “A conspiracy theorist with absolutely zero knowledge of how to actually run elections aside from spreading completely fabricated lies about the outcome in the past, is currently in charge of helping to oversee our election infrastructure.”
Prior to her weigh-in, the former White House press secretary first pointed out how Trump used Honey’s disinformation to sway Pennsylvania voters in 2021. Her segment started with a cold open of Trump speaking to Pennsylvanians, wherein he rejected the 2024 Presidential Election results and claimed the state “had 205,000 more votes than you had voters, and the same number is actually is much greater than that now.”
“That was as of a week ago, and this is a mathematical impossibility unless you want to say it’s a total fraud,” Trump said at the time.
“That was one of the many election lies Donald Trump repeated on Jan. 6,” Psaki said, mentioning that the false statement came from Honey, whom she called an “absolutely rabid election denier, conspiracy theorist and a protégé” of Oklahoma’s former representative, Cleta Mitchell.
Psaki also said the true purpose of Honey’s placement all comes down to her relationship with Trump and how he plans to use her false claims to his benefit.
“Heather Honey isn’t in this job because she has some sort of immaculate record of protecting voting systems against security threats,” she explained. “She’s in this job because of her connection to Trump, who used her lies to his advantage and who may now continue to do so in elections to come.”
Paski went on to say that Honey’s new role in the DHS’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans just so happens to come around the same time that Trump dismantled the programs that were in place to block campaign and election interferences.
“Including the DOJ program aimed at combatting foreign influence,” Psaki noted, “Trump also cut roughly 1,000 employees from the nation’s top cybersecurity agency and put the director of that agency, Chris Krebs, under federal investigation.”
She added that his controversial tactics all make sense given “Trump’s political reality.”
“His approval ratings are completely in the toilet,” Psaki continued, further noting that she believes these are the measures Trump seemingly feels he has to take in order to have advantage once the 2026 midterm elections come around.
“His major legislative achievement — sort of, I guess — the big, ugly bill, is deeply unpopular among Americans for good reason. Even his handling of the economy is hemorrhaging support,” she concluded. “If you believe you can’t win votes honestly and with integrity … this is what you do.”
