Jen Psaki: Binging ‘The West Wing’ TV Show Inspired Me to Return to Politics

White House press secretary Jen Psaki detailed how she was inspired to return to politics after watching The West Wing television show.

“In a crazy way, it really brought me back to come back to politics,” she said in an interview with actor Rob Lowe on his Literally podcast.

Psaki detailed how she left politics to work at a consulting firm and started “binge-watching” the show in 2012.

“So many people that I know and I have grown up with in Washington, it inspired them to come here right? And be a part of this town and work in government, no question about it,” she said.

Psaki told Lowe she used to serve as a deputy press secretary in President Barack Obama’s White House, which was the same job that Lowe’s character Sam Seaborn held in the show.

“We shared a job in some ways,” Psaki told Lowe.

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She spoke glowingly of Lowe’s character in the show for illustrating the best of idealistic young people in the city.

“That character was so inspiring because that idealism that sam seaborn had that you embodied for many years is kind of what the best of Washington is, right?” she said.

As the current press secretary, Psaki said she was excited to work with young inspiring people.

“One of the things that’s so great of what I’m living and experiencing now is I’ve worked here before, I never thought I’d be back in the White House, and now I get to work with all of these people who are in the press team.”

She described the young staffers in the administration expressing “idealism that is like bursting out of their pores,”

“There’s lots of Sam Seaborns wandering around here,” she said.

Psaki said the idealism in Washington, DC still existed thanks to the inspiration of the television show.

“As rotten as people think politicians are, they’re not all rotten, or divisive this town is, and it certainly is, there are so many good soul human beings who are coming up in the ranks and that is like encouraging and inspiring and awesome,” she said.

Despite her prominent role interacting with cable and newspaper news sources, Psaki said she was optimistic about the future of media now that cable and newspapers were losing their audiences.

“Cable news is dying. Right? The ratings for it are dwindling. Right?” She said. “And there is dwindling readership as well of a lot of national newspapers.”

She said media streaming services could break free from previous news models and produce better content.

“What I’m hopeful of, and we’ll see, is that will be a form for creating a range of content that is informative. Right? And isn’t from a viewpoint but is telling and explaining to you…”

Psaki spoke about her former bosses, noting that she enjoyed working for former Secretary of State John Kerry.

“He’s the best. He’s the example of someone who is so misunderstood,” she said. “If you get to know him a little bit he’s like the most outgoing loves life and people human being I’ve ever worked for.”
She noted that former President Barack Obama was also a little misunderstood, due to his public speaking abilities.

“He also, I think, is probably an introvert, right? Somebody who enjoys time himself, reading, thinking and in some ways was misunderstood in that way too right?”