Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer found himself in the hot seat as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes made him sit through a montage of Democratic Party leaders slamming his surprise vote in favor of the Republican spending bill.
Peering through his trademark glasses, Schumer sat through criticism from prominent Democrats who accused him of giving up the party’s leverage by voting through the GOP bill.
“They [Republicans] weren’t going to negotiate with us!” Schumer said in defense on Tuesday during “All In With Chris Hayes.” “So there were two choices only.”
Hayes told Schumer to “take a listen,” noting that criticism came not from “backseat drivers” but from major figures like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal, and this is not just about progressive Democrats. This is across the board, the entire party,” Ocasio-Cortez said about Schumer’s vote, in a clip played by Hayes.
In another video included in the montage, Jeffries said he disagreed on Schumer’s “approach and outcome.”
“I would have liked to see when Chuck Schumer had leverage here to say ‘We need A, B, C and D for the Democratic Party’ and force the Republicans to meet him halfway on those issues,” Shapiro said in another clip.
Pelosi appeared to mock Schumer’s negotiation tactics, saying, “I, myself, don’t give away anything for nothing, and I think that’s what happened the other day.”
Murphy said while he still supports Schumer as the Senate minority leader, he thinks “the only way that we are going to be effective as a caucus is if we change our tactics.”
Schumer continued to defend his choice, arguing that “the choice of a shutdown was so severe — you’re giving them the keys to the city.”
“It would be nice if we had a third choice,” he told Hayes. “But in the Senate the only two choices were these choices,” referring to the decision to shut down the government or avoid a shutdown.
Schumer has faced widespread criticism — from fellow party members in the House and Senate to comedians and news hosts to voters — for his support of the GOP bill, which many have decried as evidence of poor negotiation skills.
But he argued it was most important to avoid a government shutdown.
“If you don’t have a shutdown, you can go to court, and we’ve had some successful results in the courts,” Schumer said. “Shutdown. No court. They [Republicans] make the decision, and they can make it quickly, easily and across the whole federal government.”