Schumer Is Unlikeable, Condescending, And Bad For The Democrats

Written By Leeja Miller

Sources:

Transcript

Last week, divisions in the Democratic party came to a fever pitch when Chuck Schumer, despite promises to the contrary, announced he would be voting in favor of a Republican-backed stopgap spending measure in order to avert a government shutdown. This despite a majority of the Democratic caucus coalescing around using the spending bill to gain leverage and (finally) do something to stand up to Trump. Many are calling for Chuck Schumer to step down as Senate minority leader, though that seems unlikely. Many others are calling on Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to run against him in the primaries when he runs for reelection in 2018. The backlash against Schumer is a microcosm of the divide in the Democratic party–old establishment Democrats vs progressives and, you know, people who have ever used a smart phone before. And its indicative of the larger messaging problem that Democrats seem hopelessly incapable of overcoming. Today we’ll talk about what the fuck happened, why Democrats are so fucking pissed, and what actually needs to happen for Democrats to win back the American people and actually grow a fucking spine in the face of a tyrant hell bent on ending our democracy. Let’s get into it.

Of course every news pundit on the internet is writing think pieces about this Chuck Schumer controversy, but of course the way they write about him and his vote last week is heavily influenced by their biases.


This article from The Seattle Times caught my eye with the headline “Schumer will clear the way for GOP spending bill, breaking with his party” – clearly communicating some drama afoot, so obviously I have to know more.


Using the Ground News browser extension, it’s helpful to see that this news source has a left leaning bias. I really love this extension because it provides context, and I can see how other sources are framing the story by clicking full coverage.


On the Ground News website you can see that there are 265 sources covering this topic


Among them, the left leaning publication Mediaite uses the headline:  “Trump Adds Insult to Injury by Praising Chuck Schumer for Supporting GOP Spending Bill: ‘Really Good and Smart Move’"  while the far right Patriot Journal frames it as: "After Trump Calls Out Schumer, Democrat Agrees to Support GOP Spending Bill" gloatingly giving Trump the credit for Schumer’s decision. Very different takes, and it's a clear example of how consuming news from only one perspective can limit your understanding of a situation.


This is where Ground News comes in - and why I've been using them for over a year. Today’s partner Ground News is an app and website that offers tools to help you critically analyze the news you read, providing context to understand the full picture. For example, I can see each publication's factuality rating, as well as the overall factuality ratings of publications discussing this story, so I know which is more trustworthy. And I can see who owns which publication, and that the overall ownership skews more towards media conglomerates than independent news outlets.


By using the Ground News Vantage Subscription, I can also see the blindspot feed where I can see stories disproportionately covered by one side of the political spectrum.I feel better equipped to make sense of what’s happening in the world without being influenced by just one perspective.


I’m always really impressed with Ground News and genuinely think they’re a great resource. If you want to stay informed on US Politics and more scan my QR code, or click the link in the description or go to ground dot news slash leeja to get 40% off the same Vantage plan I use which comes to about $5/month. Ground News is subscriber-funded, so they don't rely on ads that could introduce bias! Subscribing supports my channel and an independent team working to keep the media transparent. Thanks Ground News!



Okay here’s how we got here: Republicans in the house introduced a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shut down until the official Congressional budget talks happen. According to Mother Jones, “The resolution, which cuts non-defense spending by $13 billion and increases defense spending by approximately $6 billion, includes—among other steep cuts—a 57 percent slashing of the Department of Defense’s medical research programs; a 44 percent cut to Army Corps of Engineers projects, which build and maintain essential infrastructure; and more than $3 billion in cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s community development, rental assistance, and homelessness services programs.” It also gives Trump and Elon free reign to decide how to use Congressionally-mandated money to keep doing what they’re doing. For example the bill gave the White House the right to determine whether and which Army Corps of Engineers construction projects are funded or not. All but one democrat in the house voted against it, KNOWING that it would lead to a shut down and determining that it was worth the risk to use the leverage to push back on Trump’s impoundment theory where he thinks he doesn’t have to spend money the way Congress tells him to. It was leverage. And after Democrats in the house put their necks on the line, Schumer, despite promising to vote against the bill, did an about face and voted in favor. His reasoning, given after the fact, was that the bill was awful, but a government shutdown would be worse than signing this bill. Think pieces and talking heads have been opining for days about whether or not he’s right. And while my inclination is to say there needs to be a fucking spine in this Congress and we need to stand up to Trump no matter what, after reading through the various arguments, I am not so sure that voting in favor of the spending bill was the wrong call. I KNOW okay don’t come for me, let me explain myself. The democrats are the minority in both houses of Congress. They were never going to have much of a say over what was in this bill. Under a normal presidency, using the filibuster in the Senate to stop the passing of the bill, risking a government shut down in the hopes that Republicans would compromise with them on some things to avoid a shut down, because a shut down under Republican leadership makes them look bad. Democrats could point at Republicans and say “look at what they did to your government, isn’t that bad??” would be a good way to exercise the limited leverage they do have. And I would LOVE to see anyone with any backbone in Congress, especially the senate. However this is not a typical presidency, and thinking through to the end result of a government shut down under present circumstances gives me the fucking heebie jeebies. 


So the way it works is this: the government is funded through funding bills passed by Congress. They are laws that say the government will keep functioning and it will have this much money for each of the functions. Typically that funding law is an appropriation bill that is passed annually, but if Congress doesn’t approve spending for the full fiscal year, meaning they don’t pass a new spending law, they have to pass a stopgap bill, also known as a continuing resolution or a CR, to continue funding for a shorter period of time until they pass a larger spending measure. The passage of that funding law is required for the government to function. If it is not passed, then the government lacks legal authority to spend money. So all governmental functions cease except for those deemed “essential.” Who gets to decide what’s essential or not? Trump. And Congress, which is being run by Maga diehards, would have to pass a measure eventually to re-open the government. And that law would have to be signed by Trump. Despite the fact that a defunded government with greater authority for the President is exactly what Trump has been gunning for, so why would he sign that law? There is a very real potential that a government shut down would never end, under this current presidency. 


On the other side of the coin, many are furious at the apparent willingness of Schumer to simply lay down and let Trump get his way. Trump is already determining what should and should not be slashed, through DOGE, he’s already burning down the government, and there are some who argue, like in an article today from The American Prospect, that approving the bill actually hurt all of the legal battles trying to reign in Trump’s slash and burn policies. Because instead of digging their heels in and saying we do not approve of Trump’s ability to impound Congressionally mandated funds, we do not believe he should be able to make those decisions, Schumer, in voting to pass the bill, voted for a bill that explicitly gives Trump that power, to determine how funds should be spent no matter what Congress has said. And so now in court his lawyers can say see, Congress actually approves of Trump’s ability to make his own determinations about Congressionally mandated funds. 


Instead of saying well a shut down is worse so I guess my hands are tied!!! Schumer should have used the leverage that bill gave him, because it would ultimately make the Republicans look bad when the government is shut down because they’re the ones in charge of Congress and the White House and this will be happening under their watch. It was leverage Chuck Schumer threw away. And now they won’t have another chance to stand up to them on the budget until SEPTEMBER.


On top of that, Schumer alone, despite the consensus of Democrats in the house AND a large consensus in the Senate that voting in favor of the spending bill was bad, made the call, contrary to the majority of his caucus, that the spending bill should go through. He alone decided he knew best, and voted contrary to what the majority of Democratic lawmakers believed to be in the best interest of the American people.


No one has a crystal ball and can say for certain the levels of lawlessness Trump would stoop to in the face of a government shut down, though he has followed through on all our worst fears so far. The real issue here, and the reason we’re seeing such backlash and the potential downfall of Chuck Schumer, is the fundamental and deeply toxic disconnect between the party establishment and the progressive wing, and between all of them and the American people. There was clearly a lack of communication within the party about what was going to happen with this vote, as many house democrats were furious and shocked. Schumer did a bad job communicating with them and with the American people about why a shut down would be worse. He is now on the defense with the American people because of his sloppy and outdated communication strategies, because he’s incredibly unlikable, because he didn’t do a good job communicating what he was doing to us, or even to his own party, effectively.


And this lack of communication even within the Democratic party comes at a time when the public is literally fucking begging them to do ANYTHING. A united strategy on this vote, in either direction, would have shown a united democratic party, and proper communication would have told the American people why THIS specific vote is not the hill to die on, but here’s the list of all the other things we’re doing, here’s our cohesive vision for the future. Instead he goes on MSNBC and says I’m a smart politician I know what people want while all evidence points to the contrary. It would have been really uncomfortable for the American people if the government shut down, but we’re already fucking uncomfortable, at least in that scenario the Democrats would have the opportunity to mount a serious opposition, one willing to take risks and flout norms for the good of the country. But they would have needed to tell us and show us that that was what they were doing. And because they are incapable of that, I’m not convinced that standing up to Trump and causing a major, prolonged, potentially never ending government shut down would have worked because they would have failed to effectively communicate to the electorate why it is Republicans’ fault and why the shut down was worth it. The problem is that, once again, Democrats have a messaging problem, but not in the way they think they do.


Schumer is insistent that the democrats messaging problem will be solved by having Corey Booker in charge of social media, the man relies on powerpoints to tell lawmakers how many times per day to post to social media THAT IS NOT A COHESIVE STRATEGY, and Schumer is also convinced that the way they win back the American people is by telling us how bad Trump is. That’s it. That’s the strategy. He’s laid it out in multiple interviews over the last week. Just this morning, Wednesday, on MSNBC, Schumer said on Morning Joe “Now we can really go after him, let the public know who he is. Once they know who he is, show them what we have done and want to do.” We just need to double down on communicating to the American people that Trump is bad and then we win back seats in 2026, it worked in 2017 it’ll work again. But Chuckie my boy it DIDN’T work in 2017! Because if it had, Trump would not have been re-elected in 2024. Also BITCH WE KNOW HOW BAD HE IS??? We have also been living breathing conscious humans for the last 8 years, we know, we see. Anyone who pays attention knows who he is, that is not the problem. You need to move onto the next step which is communicating what the fuck you plan to do about it. In an interview on The View yesterday, Schumer said confidently, “One of the things I am known to be very good at is how to win Senate seats. In other words, I’m a strategist in terms of recruiting candidates, helping the candidates run campaigns and winning,” going on to say “Look, winning in 2026 — in the House and Senate, which would stop Trump once and for all — is vitally important.”


This shortsighted thinking, that the next primary is definitely the thing that will stop Trump once and for all, is the way we got into this mess in the first place. Republicans have been playing the long game that led to Trump since at least the 1970s!! FIFTY YEARS of strategy, playing towards a long game of complete conservative control. Decisions made day to day CANNOT be solely with an eye on the 2026 midterm elections. You have to convince the people that you give a shit about them or what they have to say. Instead, he sits on his high horse saying I’m a smart politician, I think I understand people, they just don’t understand that it would have been worse if there was a shut down. Representative Jasmine Crockett said it well on CNN recently, saying quote "The idea that Chuck Schumer is the only one that's got a brain in the room and the only one that can think though all the pros and cons is absolutely ridiculous.” And it is that kind of condescending talking down that Schumer and other establishment Democrats who haven’t left Washington DC in decades use that makes the American people bristle at the Democratic party, whose approval ratings are hitting record lows even amongst longtime democratic voters. And the fact that Schumer is getting so much push back and just doubling down, indicates his conceited, self-important, overconfident belief that he alone understands what’s right for the American people. The problem is that we’re all screaming from the rooftops that what he’s doing is wrong, and he doesn’t get to turn around and say sit down honey I know what’s best and expect us to all complacently say ah well daddy knows best, I guess everything will be okay! 


And it’s this complete lack of accountability, and complete incapability of talking like a normal fucking person and speaking to the American people like an equal, like a member of a team that is united in a common goal, that has alienated a large chunk of the American people from the democratic party. As frustrating is it is that anti-elitism has led to the spread of disinformation, science deniers, and a complete disregard for truth or research or experience or knowledge in a way that is incredibly detrimental to society, and much of that Trump and his ilk are to blame for, Democrats are the ones who leaned into the intellectualism and who did the alienating by treating the American people as “less than.” By stereotyping Republicans as uneducated hillbillies. By leaning into wonky politician speak and relying on convincing the people to vote for them because of some fact or figure and not thinking about the way people actually make political decisions–which is driven far more by emotion and vibes than practical policy choices. And the vibes have been off for democrats for YEARS. And while rank and file members of the Democratic party are taking hard looks and trying new tactics, the leadership is stuck in the past when it comes to politicking. You cannot run a campaign the same way you ran one in 2005. You cannot communicate to the American people with the same strategies you used before social media existed. Chuck Schumer proudly uses a flip phone, for christ sake. He represents an old guard democratic establishment politician that no longer resonates with the vast majority of the American electorate. That is obvious from the polls and it is obvious from this backlash. And don’t take my word for it! A recent NBC News poll found that not only are positive views of the Democratic party the lowest they’ve ever been, also “Democratic voters say 2 to 1 they want party leaders to fight rather than compromise, even at the risk of not getting things done.” We are explicitly saying: things are bad, the very least you could do is stand up for us, we are willing to put up with the bad if we see you actually fighting. It’s going to be bad either way, at least in that scenario the bad might be worth something in the end, and we’ll feel like our representatives actually represent us, are actually listening to us, and are willing to stand up against Trump no matter what. And instead of accountability or reckoning, Chuck Schumer doubles down and says no I know what’s best. And that’s infuriating, and it’s hurting the Democratic party, a party that even before this had alienated most of its base. Schumer, as its leader, is helping nothing. 


And while many news outlets are touting this as an age issue, it’s more an issue of who’s willing to be humble, take accountability, listen to the American people, change course, try new things, and actually speak to the issues that people care about and that are impacting all of us. I know he’s the example we always go back to but Bernie Sanders is 83 fucking years old he was born in NINETEEN FOURTY ONE. I’ve never seen him use a smart phone and I have no idea what his tech capabilities are. But he’s willing to surround himself with people who do understand tech and can get his message out there. He does YouTube livestreams. That man doesn’t understand the first thing about how to set up a YouTube livestream. But he does them. He has organized an incredibly popular and successful national tour in which he’s just talking to people about money in politics. And he’s drawing crowds of THOUSANDS. To see this decrepit 83 year old curmudgeonly New Yorker scream about rich people. That’s what the people want!!!! The message HAS to be something other than “Trump is bad and we’re your only other choice.” The democrats used to be the party of hope. Obama did not turn out to be the progressive president some of us had hoped for, but the vibe was right. He did instill hope, you can criticize him but you can’t deny that. He beat his opponents not by saying look how bad they are I am the better option. He beat them by being an incredibly engaging speaker who communicated hopeful ideas clearly and sold the American people on his vision for the future. Chuck Schumer is unlikeable, condescending, unwilling to try new things because he thinks he already knows how it's done, and relies on using Trump to scare people into voting instead of unifying his party behind a shared vision that actually speaks to the concerns of the American people. And he’s almost 10 years YOUNGER than Bernie Sanders.


I think Chuck Schumer represents not only the schism that divides the Democratic party today but also is kind of the age old division in left leaning politics, something that has led to Trump’s current power, something that led to the rise of Hitler, something that has dashed the hopes of progressives the world over since the rise of popular democracy in the 19th century. And I think it’s important we very clearly acknowledge that this is happening and call it out for what it is. Since the dawn of representative democracy, wherein the unwashed masses were granted the right to vote, as opposed to having politics be relegated only to the aristocracy or oligarchs, those who represent the establishment on the “left.” That is, people who espouse more socially permissive views on things like women’s lib, gay marriage, people who support the idea that not everything should be privatized and the government should step in and regulate things and provide at least something for its citizens, those who hold those views AND ALSO hold a lot of wealth and power, will side with the conservatives, the oligarchs, and the establishment, every single time, in the face of the threat of popular progressive ideals. They would rather side with a tyrant than allow the people to rise up and share their power and their wealth. You can set your watch to it. That is why, despite their incredibly widespread popularity within the party, Bernie Sanders, who I know is an independent but operates often within Democratic party spheres so I’m lumping him in here, and AOC are not being given a microphone and a spotlight, even though it would likely be in the best interests of the party to listen to the people and provide us with leaders who we actually find inspiring. They would rather self immolate than give actual power to the people. 


We saw it in Germany in World War 2 as Hitler gained power and those left of center but who also had money and power, not only oligarchs but elected officials as well, capitulated to him, propped him up, even gave him their money, supported his initiatives, because a popular progressive movement was also growing, and they were willing to do anything to stop it. And we’re seeing the same thing happening in the Democratic party now. Chuck Schumer is willing to capitulate to the Republicans by approving their bills by saying well I know how it’s done and it would be even worse if you didn’t have me guiding you you stupid stupid little idiots, and anyone who wants to have any future within the Democratic establishment has to toe the line. That’s why you see Hakeem Jeffries initially being unwilling to voice support for Chuck Schumer do an about face and say well I still stand behind him. That’s why you see Senator Chris Murphy, a rising star in the Democratic party in large part because he’s not afraid to use innovative ways to communicate with the American people, saying welllllll I’m not sure about the spending bill but I still stand behind Chuck Schumer. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, long considered to have presidential ambitions, said he disagreed with Schumer but that he should still definitely be the Democratic leader in the senate. People unwilling to break rank for what’s right because they’re too afraid of what that means for their own political future. And their line is we make people feel good and fuzzy because we say love is love and everyone is welcome here but let’s not get carried away and give people economic power. 


Because that’s what this is ultimately about. James Carville has been making the rounds lately but he was right in 1992 when he said “It’s the economy, stupid.” It’s always the economy. Not only is it always the economy when you ask what the American voter cares most about. It is also the economy when you ask what the American politician is most motivated by. Economics. Because money is power and whoever has the most of it gets to call the shots, and by spreading it out among the American people through progressive policies like guaranteed basic income, you’re diluting the power of those at the top, and our elected officials are often the ones with a ton of the cash and are also beholden to others with tons of cash to get elected. Every wedge issue, every thing that divides us, every right we fight for and win or lose, is all a distraction from the true carrot and stick, which is and always has been money. Who has it and how do we keep it from the people. And Chuck Schumer is an example of the very entrenched politician who is unwilling to create any long term strategy, take any risk, or actually sit down and speak candidly CANDIDLY with the electorate, and push for the type of equality we all want, economic equality, because that threatens his power, the power of the elite Democratic institution, and the power of his monied benefactors that get to call the shots on whether or not he’s re-elected. 


And so while Bernie Sanders is orchestrating a nationwide tour where the theme is just “oligarchs are bad” and drawing crowds of literal THOUSANDS, Schumer and Jeffries are trying to show a united Democratic front by holding a “Medicaid day of action” to continue harping on how bad Trump is, to very little interest or fanfare from the American people, and yet they remain convinced that their strategy will work. 


So in the end I really don’t think it’s as black and white as the media is making it out to be: that Schumer just capitulated to Trump on this bill and that the Democrats should have stood against it and a government shut down is better than a vote in favor of the Republican stopgap spending bill. A government shut down could have been the end of the functioning of our government for the foreseeable future. It is reasonable to have looked at the situation and decided that the stop gap bill was the lesser of two evils. But I do think that this incident IS enough evidence to show what we’ve all known for a while and that is that the Democratic leadership is inept for our current political reality not because they don’t know how to do government but because they don’t know how to sell what they’re doing to the American people, they instill zero confidence in their ability to meet the current political moment with the creativity, energy, messaging, or strategy necessary when all of us can see and feel that democracy is literally on the line. And that is bad for the party and very good for Trump and Maga, because it continues the leftist infighting and it prevents the formation of a cohesive plan. And so do I think Chuck Schumer made the wrong call? I don’t know. But I do know he needs to step down as Democratic minority leader, because he has proven time and again that he is not the person capable of meeting this moment in history. Instead, the Democratic party, which we are unfortunately stuck with in our two party system, needs to grow a fucking spine and put forth bold leaders like AOC and others, who are capable of speaking to the American people, who champion truly progressive policies that would actually benefit the working class voters Chuck Schumer claims to care so much about, and who might be able to create the energy and vision needed in this very specific time in history. 


Okay so what do we do about this? I don’t always have an answer for you especially in These Trying Times when we don’t have a lot of say. But this article from Axios last month gave me some unexpected hope. It’s titled Dem’s “pissed” at liberal groups MoveOn, Indivisible. Why are they pissed? Because these groups are encouraging all of us to call them more and push them to act. And the Democrats are like ugh but we’re in the minority just call the Republicans we can’t dooo anythingggggg. Even though Indivisible and others have put forth clear, easy to follow guidelines for the procedural hurdles that Democrats could put up to stall things on the floor, things that these Democrats KNOW they could be doing, but refuse to, claiming that being in the minority means they can’t do anything. NO ONE is expecting them to actually pass bills. We are not playing offense here. Pardon the football analogy but even I know that when you’re playing defense you still need a strategy, you probably won’t score a touch down but you can prevent the other team from scoring one for themselves. That’s like the team playing defense deciding welp we can’t score a touchdown so we might as well just take a nap on the field while the other team fucking tramples us. It makes no logical sense, and no one is buying their whining that we need to stop bugging them because there’s nothing they can do. And so I say keep calling them, keep bugging them. Clearly they’re hearing and seeing it. Clearly it is getting under their skin. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now is the time to be annoying as fuck for your elected officials. They think we are stupid. They think we don’t get it. They have an us versus them mentality that has gotten us all here in the first place. Don’t fucking let them forget that they work for us. We pay their bills. WE decide whether they stay in office or get primaried into oblivion. If you don’t know where to start, I’d go to the source that’s making them most frustrated, somewhere like Indivisible, a group pushing for Democrats to do ANYTHING or face primaries. Reporting indicates that Chuck Schumer’s people have been in direct talks with Indivisible leaders begging them to stop calling for him to step down as leader. They have his ear. Because the only thing these people seem to care about is their own political career. So threatening that is the only way to gain leverage. Keep calling–it’s the phone calls that seem to be the most troubling to them. Now is not the time to let up. The downfall of Chuck Schumer is the perfect time to contact your representatives if they are Democrats and tell them, over and over again, that Chuckie is not the answer, he does not represent the Democratic voters, he needs to go, and they need to find a leader capable of effectively communicating with the American people who is willing to actually fight, put their necks on the line, and stand up to Trump.

Knowledge is also power which is why I launched the Why, America? Co-Learning Lab at the beginning of this year, a learning community having discussions and making connections, along with a monthly syllabus curated by me. All year we’ll be covering topics under the umbrella theme of “Eat the Rich: Building Solidarity in the New Gilded Age.” March’s topic is how billionaires bought the government. This is all hosted over on Patreon, which is linked down below. If you’re interested, please join us. Patreon dot com slash leeja miller.


Thank you to my multi-platinum patrons Marc, Thomas Orf, Sarah Shelby, Art, David, R_H, L’etranger (Lukus), Joshua Cole, Thomas Johnson, and Tay. Your generosity makes this channel what it is, so thank you! 


And if you liked this episode, you’ll like the one from Monday where I talk about how Trump is defying judicial orders and that’s really scary!



Leeja Miller
Previous

Trump & Co Blame Journalist For Major National Security Slip Up
Next

The Constitutional Crisis Has Begun