'What happened to that guy?' MSNBC's Jen Psaki wonders where 'fiery' Chuck Schumer has disappeared
WASHINGTON, DC: MSNBC’s Jen Psaki is wondering what happened to Chuck Schumer.
On Tuesday’s episode of 'The Briefing,' the former White House Press Secretary noted how the Senate Minority Leader went from being the Democrats’ “fiery” frontman during the government shutdown standoff to now being seen as a sellout or a scapegoat by some in his own party.
Jen Psaki asks 'What happened to that guy?'
“I just want to acknowledge what’s happened here in Washington over the last couple of days because it may feel kind of like a big whipsaw if you remember this video from just a few weeks ago,” Psaki told viewers before rolling the tape, Mediaite reported.
She replayed a clip of Schumer's impassioned post in October when he seemed rather confident Democrats would hold the line.
“Donald Trump and the Republican Party are hellbent on taking healthcare away from 60 million people, closing community clinics, rural hospitals, nursing homes, all so they can keep giving tax breaks to their billionaire friends. It’s a disgrace. So Democrats have three words for this. No f**king way. It’s literally life or death," he declared.
But after a 40-plus-day shutdown, the unity Schumer boasted about showed some serious cracks. This week, eight Senate Democrats voted to advance a Republican bill to fund and reopen the government. Schumer wasn’t among them.
“That guy was fiery. There was ominous music. He swore. I mean, there was a lot in that video. What happened to that guy?” Psaki asked. “And of course, Democrats had every reason to feel like they were in a good position to keep up the fight. I mean for a range of reasons.”
She noted that polling from NBC News just last week showed that voters blamed Trump and Republicans for the shutdown by a 10-point margin over Democrats.
“And that was before Democrats absolutely cleaned the clocks of Republicans all across the country last Tuesday,” Psaki reminded viewers. “Signaling that voters were behind their efforts to stand up to this administration.”
Growing frustration inside Democratic ranks
While few senators have been willing to publicly take a swing at Schumer, there’s no denying the murmurs about his future are growing louder.
“He did the right thing in March,” said Sen John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, referring to Schumer’s earlier deal with Republicans to avert a shutdown.
“But I think he’s discovering that you can’t get back into the good graces of the Indivisible folks,” he added, name-dropping the progressive grassroots group that’s been fuming over the latest budget standoff.
Still, Fetterman stopped short of fully turning on his party leader. “I’m not going to put a blade in my leader,” he said.
Others, like Sen Mark Kelly of Arizona, artfully dodged the question. When CNN pressed him on whether he still had confidence in Schumer, Kelly shifted the blame to President Donald Trump. “We have an irrational president who doesn’t care about the American people,” Kelly said.
But when reporters pushed him again, Kelly admitted it’s been a bumpy ride for Democrats. “I’ve been here four and a half years now, and [Schumer has] been the leader, and I understand why people look at this and say, well, this was kind of a rough period,” he conceded.
Maryland’s Sen. Chris Van Hollen also didn’t exactly radiate confidence. When asked if he had faith in Schumer’s leadership, Van Hollen played it safe. “I was glad to see that kind of unity,” he said. “I’m disappointed in the result, but we will fight on another day.”
