Perpetual Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
As friend and colleague Stephen Robinson recently wrote, there is a Democratic class intent on repeating the same failed strategies over and over. No one exemplifies this calcification of ineffectiveness like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
On Sunday, he appeared on CNN’s “State Of The Union” to inadvertently add more evidence for his inability to meet this moment in our politics.
When asked if he agreed with Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff’s opinion that Trump should be impeached for his various crimes & misdemeanors if Democrats regained power, Schumer stopped short of actually taking this position.
SCHUMER: Well, look, right now, President Trump is violating rule of law in every way. We're fighting him every single day in every way.
His truly maddening betrayal of Democratic voters and House Democrats during the budget reconciliation debacle say otherwise.
But we digress…
SCHUMER: And our goal is to show the American people over and over again, whether it's the economy, whether it's tariffs, whether it's Russia and overseas, and whether it's rule of law, how bad he is. And two years is too far away to predict. Our job is day to day to day to show who Trump is, what he is doing. And it's having an effect.
BASH: But you're not ruling out...
SCHUMER: As your poll showed, the American people are realizing...
BASH: You're not saying no?
SCHUMER: Look, it's too far away to even judge.
How inspiring! Every American will surely rush to the polls to vote for Democrats based on vague promises made by charisma-vacuum leaders like Chuck Schumer.
But maybe we are being too harsh.
When asked by host Dana Bash about Trump’s assaults on democracy and free speech, Schumer correctly diagnosed the problem…
SCHUMER: […] He is going after these universities, like he's going after judges, like he's going after law firms, like he's going after the media, because he just doesn't -- he's not -- he doesn't believe in democracy. He thinks he's king, as he said. […] He is using antisemitism […] as a pretext to hurt these great universities. It's going to hurt every American. It's going to hurt the kids at the universities who've had nothing to do with protesting. But it's also going to hurt the kind of medical research and other kinds of great research that is done at Harvard and other universities.
…before once again showing what flaccid actions he deems as “fighting him every single day in every way.”
SCHUMER: So we sent him a very strong letter just the other day asking eight very strong questions about why this isn't just a pretext.
BASH: Well, you will let us know if you get a response to that letter.
SCHUMER: I will. I will.
I’m sure the Trump Administration will get right on that response…right after they are done laughing and saying to each other “this fucking guy” in bemused disbelief.
Schumer’s deficiency of self-awareness was highlighted even more when he was asked about stepping aside.
BASH: So there's the message, sir, and then there's the messenger. And when your very longtime friend former roommate and colleague Senator Dick Durbin announced his retirement this week after three decades in the Senate, he said -- quote -- "It's time to pass the torch." […] Why don't you think it's time to pass the torch?
SCHUMER: Look, I am focused on winning, as I have always been, and we are -- and, as leader of the caucus, we are united. […]
BASH: And you're staying put?
SCHUMER: […] of course, yes, I am staying put […]
Though fresh from his cancelled book tour, Schumer still tried to plug his book at the end of the segment because why not get some sales while being an ineffectual loser.
Schumer is unwilling to see what other retiring Democrats like Gary Peters, Tina Smith, and Jeanne Shaheen see: That a side effect of new ideas and bold policies is not often brought by the entrenched gerontocracy. It’s why the old Democratic Party class gets upset when Dems like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Media Matters contributor Kat Abughazaleh, and DNC vice chair David Hogg buck the system by daring to aim for populist (and popular) policies. While Schumer can choose to ignore this, and the party class continues to fight against real progress, the Democratic Party has two options: Evolve or Die.
I choose to fight for evolution, but I will not lament the death of the political equivalent of the dodo.
Have a week.
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