MSNBC hosts mocked voters Tuesday night over the results of a Virginia exit poll asking about the top issue driving voters to the polls in the 2024 election.
A majority of Virginia voters in the state’s GOP primary answered that immigration was the most important issue that dictated who they voted for, an NBC News exit poll found. MSNBC host Jen Psaki, who was previously President Joe Biden’s press secretary, was baffled by the results of the poll during the network’s coverage of Super Tuesday.
“I mean, if you look at some of these exit polls. I mean, I live in Virginia. Immigration was the number one issue. I mean, again, this could change,” Psaki said.
“Well, Virginia does have a border with West Virginia,” MSNBC host Rachel Maddow interjected as panelists erupted with laughter. “Build the wall.”
“Right, but you’re thinking like, what?” Psaki asked. “I mean, when I was in New Hampshire, people were talking about the northern border as a threat. Because Trump has indoctrinated people with this fear of people who do not like, look like them being a threat to them.”
Immigration was selected by 37% of Republican primary voters in Virginia as their top issue, according to NBC 4 Washington. The economy was the second most important issue to voters at 33%, followed by abortion and foreign policy both at 11%. (RELATED: ‘We Do Have A Problem’: CNN Panel Gives Trump Credit On Biden’s Border Crisis)
Trump has heavily emphasized the border crisis as a major issue during his campaign, promising to crackdown with mass deportations if elected president. There were more than 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023 alone under the Biden administration, up from 2.3 million in fiscal year 2022 and 1.7 million in fiscal year 2021, according to federal data.