Saturday's edition of MSNBC's The Weekend absolutely tore into Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for rounding up a sufficient number of his fellow Dem senators to vote for the continuing resolution and avoid a government shutdown.
Co-host Michael Steele said Republicans had demonstrated their ability to "absolutely punk" Schumer.
Then it was Donna Edwards' turn to dump on Schumer. The former Democrat congresswoman, now an MSNBC analyst, said Schumer's actions were a "black mark, a stain," on his leadership. She called support for the CR by 10 Democrat senators an "absolute disaster."
And then there was the ever-emotive Symone Sanders. The co-host said she was "pissed" by Schumer, who "folded like a paper napkin." Sanders declared that she is "going to change my registration to independent." In becoming an independent, Symone follows in the footsteps of another Sanders -- Bernie -- for whom she served as press secretary in his 2016 presidential campaign.
When co-host Alicia Menendez shared the scuttlebutt that "members of the Democratic caucus [are] privately encouraging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to primary Schumer," Sanders muttered, "anyone, anyone." Presumably meaning that any Democrat could and should primary Schumer.
The thought has undoubtedly crossed Ocasio-Cortez's mind. After all, she was first elected to Congress in 2018 after her stunning primary defeat of another long-time, prominent incumbent, Joseph Crowley, who had been tipped as a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.
The only panelist who supported Schumer's move was Charlie Dent. But he did so for all the wrong reasons.
Dent is a Never Trumper Republican congressman from Pennsylvania. After having incited Donald Trump's ire for crossing him on various issues, Dent was facing almost certain defeat in a Republican primary, and chose instead not to seek re-election in 2018. Dent endorsed Biden in 2020.
Dent argued that if the CR vote failed and there were a shutdown, it would give Trump the opportunity to label countless federal employees "non-essential," making it unlikely they'd ever be called back to work, thus adding to the fired-bureaucrat list already piled up by DOGE/Musk.
Bottom line: Looks like Democrats have learned nothing from their 2024 defeat. They appear determined to hew to their hard-left line. We can joke about AOC-Jasmine Crockett '28, but with each passing day, that prospect becomes increasingly realistic.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Weekend
8:02 am EDTMICHAEL STEELE: What are Republicans thinking right now about their ability to absolute, absolutely punk Schumer into making this move the way he did when he knew that that's not where his party was?
. . .
DONNA EDWARDS: Look, I think that, you know, 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 . . . And I think this is a real black mark, a stain on Chuck Schumer's leadership.
. . .SYMONE SANDERS: And I'm pissed. Okay, so, you know, 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.
. . .
There's not another option for Senate or Democratic or 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.
. . .
ALICIA MENENDEZ: And that's why you have members of the Democratic caucus privately encouraging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to primary Schumer.
SANDERS: Anyone can primary him. Anyone.
STEELE: So on that point [chuckles], which was very well stated, I might add.
. . .
EDWARDS: Well, I think this is an absolute disaster. One, because of what it signals to Republicans, that there's a willingness to cave, that there's a desire to cave when you're not getting anything out of it.
