MSNBC’s “The Weekend” criticized Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Saturday for his support of the bill that keeps the government open and prevents a shutdown, describing his actions as a stain and a “black mark” on his leadership. Host Michael Steele, a onetime head of the Republican National Committee, asked his panel, “What are Republicans thinking right now about their ability to absolutely punk Schumer into making this move the way he did, when he knew that that’s not where his party was?”
Despite his numerous objections to the House-passed stopgap spending measure, Schumer voted for the bill on Friday, arguing that a government shutdown would be a “gift” to President Donald Trump. “The reality here is there was no message, no strategy, and, at the end of the day, no leadership. And this is really a black mark, I think, on Chuck Schumer,” former Democratic lawmaker Donna Edwards, who is now an analyst on the far-left network, said. “You cannot signal on Wednesday that you want to fight, and then on Thursday, you cave. And so now Republicans know that all they have to do is play Democrats, and it will work.”
“I’m pissed,” fellow MSNBC host Symone Sanders Townsend, former counsel to Vice President Kamala Harris, said, referring to the contents of the spending bill. “There’s actually little that the Senate Minority Leader can say, and the 10 Democrats that voted with the Republicans can say, to appease somebody like me. I’m going to change my registration to Independent.”
A government shutdown was averted on Friday just before the deadline when senators passed the stopgap spending bill 54-46—well above the 51 votes needed for approval. Nearly all Republicans supported the measure, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and most Democrats voted against it; the only exceptions were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine.
Townsend then read an excerpt from journalist Rebecca Traister’s Substack, which argued that the very Democrats warning that Trump posed a threat to democracy were now “questioning whether or not to stand up to him and his party.”
“There’s not another option for Senate Democrats or House Democrats to effectively push back. This was it. They blew it. The Democratic Tea Party was born the same day that Chuck Schumer took to that podium to read that very well-crafted statement that told us he folded like a paper napkin,” Townsend continued.
MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez reported that members of the Democratic caucus were quietly urging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to challenge Schumer in a primary. “Anyone can primary him,” Townsend remarked in response. Schumer also faced criticism from fellow Democrats, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who dismissed his argument that a government shutdown would have had worse consequences as “absolutely wrong.”