President Donald Trump strongly criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday following Schumer’s admission that the ongoing government shutdown—and the resulting impact on federal workers and U.S. troops—is driven by political partisanship, Breitbart reports. Trump made these remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Trump called out Schumer’s recent statement to Punchbowl News, where Schumer boasted that “every day gets better” for Democrats amid the shutdown. Trump countered, asserting that the situation is actually worsening for Democrats, pointing out internal party rebellions trying to end the shutdown.
Highlighting Schumer’s history of opposing government shutdowns, Trump noted that this time it is Schumer and Senate Democrats who have refused to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government at the same levels approved last year by then-President Joe Biden. Trump framed Schumer’s behavior as prioritizing partisan interests over serving the American people.
Trump said, “This is a confession that he’s acting not to serve the people, but to serve the partisan interests of his party,” adding that the Democrats are not serving those interests well given their recent electoral losses.
With Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries leading the Democrats in their respective chambers, Trump insisted the party lacks coherent leadership to seriously negotiate reopening the government. He claimed many Democrats actually want to fund the government but are being held hostage by the leadership’s tactics.
“So Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and the congressional Democrats are holding the entire federal government hostage. I will tell you, a lot of Democrats want to get this thing open too, they do. They’re calling us and… they just want to get it open,” Trump said.
Trump suggested that Schumer is under pressure from a potential primary challenge from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and is catering to the party’s far-left faction. Trump speculated Schumer might retire rather than face a primary defeat, saying his poll numbers are very low.
Trump’s response called out Schumer and Democratic leadership for sacrificing the country’s well-being for political gamesmanship amid the shutdown, with federal workers and military personnel suffering unpaid as a result.
