WEBVTT - Chuck Schumer’s Failed Strategy Is a Gift to Trump and the MAGA Extremists

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<v Speaker 1>This is the warning. It is Monday, April twenty eighth,

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<v Speaker 1>and we must talk about the fecklessness of the leadership

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<v Speaker 1>of the Democratic Party. It is true that MAGA has

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<v Speaker 1>a knife to the throat of the American Republic. But

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<v Speaker 1>it is also true that all of us three one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty two million Americans are Chuck Schumer's hostage.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all well and good to talk about the threat

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<v Speaker 1>of Donald Trump. Corey Booker can do it for twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five hours, But unless and until the forty seven Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>Senators will confront reality, they are ineffective as a group

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<v Speaker 1>against Donald Trump. It is a moral abdication and it

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<v Speaker 1>is appalling. This is Chuck Schumer with Dana Bash talking

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<v Speaker 1>about what it is that he's going to do.

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<v Speaker 2>It's going to hurt every American. It's going to hurt

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<v Speaker 2>the kids at the universities who've had nothing to do

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<v Speaker 2>with protesting. But it's also going to hurt the kind

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<v Speaker 2>of medical research and other kinds of great research that

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<v Speaker 2>has done at Harvard and other universities. So we sent

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<v Speaker 2>him a very strong letter just the other day tell

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<v Speaker 2>asking eight very strong questions about why this isn't just

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<v Speaker 2>a pretext well, you'll let us know if you get

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<v Speaker 2>a response to that letter.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure it was a great letter. I wonder if

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<v Speaker 1>he still thinks he's winning and we will win.

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<v Speaker 2>We will win, We will win, we will win.

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<v Speaker 1>No serious opposition party would maintain this Neville Chamberlain wanna

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<v Speaker 1>Bee as its leader. This is an exigence circumstance in

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<v Speaker 1>an existential moment. There is no duty more important than

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<v Speaker 1>for the forty seven Democratic senators elected directly by Americans

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<v Speaker 1>from their states to sit together in a room and

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<v Speaker 1>demand a change in leadership. I'm begging you, Chris Murphy,

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<v Speaker 1>Ruben Gega, take command of the institution or we will

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<v Speaker 1>lose the Republic. We will lose it to Chuck Schumer's

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<v Speaker 1>fecklessness and all of your weakness. It's great that Chris

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<v Speaker 1>Murphy is traveling the country doing town halls. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>that seriously, but he is a United States Senator, and

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<v Speaker 1>a United States senator first and foremost needs to be

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<v Speaker 1>focused on the effectiveness of the United States Senate, and

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<v Speaker 1>that starts with walking into a room with his colleagues

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<v Speaker 1>and talent. Chuck Schumer, the people of New York have

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<v Speaker 1>entrusted you with responsibility, but the people of our states

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<v Speaker 1>demand you step aside. I want to tell a story

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<v Speaker 1>about Chuck Schumer's incompetence, and it's a story about the

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<v Speaker 1>state of Ohio. Tim Ryan ran an exception campaign. Jd

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<v Speaker 1>Vance was on his back, on the edge of defeat.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Ryan forced the National Republicans to spend sixty million

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<v Speaker 1>dollars to help elect jd Vance. Tim Ryan lost an

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<v Speaker 1>election by five points. The top of the ticket lost

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<v Speaker 1>the race by twenty six points. That delta between what

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<v Speaker 1>the top of the ticket, the woman running for governor

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<v Speaker 1>lost by, and Tim Ryan's loss is a remarkable testament

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<v Speaker 1>to the popularity of Tim Ryan in a democratic state

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<v Speaker 1>and also the awful abandonment of Tim by Chuck Schumer,

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<v Speaker 1>who refused to spend any money in the state of Ohio.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm going to tell you why that's so appalling.

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<v Speaker 1>It's appalling because Tim Ryan had jd Vance down and

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<v Speaker 1>defeated in August. Now, in any campaign, you have to

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<v Speaker 1>do three things. If you're the challenger, which Tim Ryan

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<v Speaker 1>was in that race, you have to attack your opponent

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<v Speaker 1>and define them. You have to tell your story, and

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<v Speaker 1>you have to defend yourself from your opponent's attack. When

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Ryan was five points ahead in August, he needed

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<v Speaker 1>about five million dollars to finish jd Vance off early,

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<v Speaker 1>but it didn't happen, and so as the fall went on,

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<v Speaker 1>compromises had to be made. Tim spent more money defending

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<v Speaker 1>himself and less money because there wasn't any attacking jd Vance.

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<v Speaker 1>And the result, well, you saw it in the Oval office.

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<v Speaker 1>The incredible part about it is that Sharon Brown was

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<v Speaker 1>running in the Senate seat in Ohio two years after

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<v Speaker 1>Tim two Senate seats same state, Republican state. Chuck Schumer

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<v Speaker 1>spent one hundred million dollars two years later after spending

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<v Speaker 1>zero strategically did he ever consider that two Senate seats

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<v Speaker 1>in the same state may be linked, that the Tim

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<v Speaker 1>Ryan victory was necessitous for the reelection of Sheren Brown.

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<v Speaker 1>Did it ever occur to him that he didn't need

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<v Speaker 1>to spend one hundred million dollars two years later if

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<v Speaker 1>he had spent oh five two years before. And the

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<v Speaker 1>answer is, of course not. Because he is strategically the

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<v Speaker 1>most incompetent political leader the Democratic parties had in fifty years,

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<v Speaker 1>and he is surrounded by imbeciles at his superpacks at

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<v Speaker 1>his campaign committees. They are losers, and they're losing. Has

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<v Speaker 1>endangered the American Republic. Everywhere there is weakness, There is dishonesty,

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<v Speaker 1>and there is fecklessness delusion about the dangers at hand. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>there are some He's Democrats like Gavin Newsom who say

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<v Speaker 1>now is not the right time to defend one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most American propositions, which is that we don't do

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<v Speaker 1>the knock on the midnight door where you're carted off

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<v Speaker 1>into a white van and shipped to an Al Salvadoran

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<v Speaker 1>concentration camp without due process. Gavin Newsom is another person

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<v Speaker 1>who doesn't understand strategy. Here's a simple question, Gavin, why

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<v Speaker 1>did Robert E. Lee and the Union forces fight at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

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<v Speaker 1>Answer to the question is because Robert Lee invaded Pennsylvania

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<v Speaker 1>and that's where the fight was. It was not chosen

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<v Speaker 1>by the Union army. It was forced on the Union

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<v Speaker 1>army by the aggressor. And that's the thing about the

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<v Speaker 1>aggressor and their prerogatives. They are always the first mover,

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<v Speaker 1>and so in this moment, what is required is an opposition. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>when you look across the Democratic Party, what is it

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<v Speaker 1>that you see. What I see is leadership from the

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<v Speaker 1>progressive wing. Now that's Bernie Sanders, and that's AOC. This

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<v Speaker 1>is different than me saying I support them in twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty eight because this moment, as AOC correctly points out,

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<v Speaker 1>is not about twenty twenty eight. This is a moment

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<v Speaker 1>where defiance is called for, where a devotion to the

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<v Speaker 1>Constitution is called for. So in my case, I look

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<v Speaker 1>at people who I have serious disagreements with about political philosophy,

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<v Speaker 1>about the nature of things, all manner of different opinions,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's a good thing in America. But I'll tell

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<v Speaker 1>you this, those people I disagree with, I admire them

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<v Speaker 1>for one quality. They're American leaders in an American crisis

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<v Speaker 1>who are telling the American people the truth, which is

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<v Speaker 1>something that they don't hear. Very often. They don't hear

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<v Speaker 1>it because there's not financial incentive to deliver it. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the warning, and I'm Steve Schmidt. This is the warning.

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<v Speaker 1>I invite you to join this community where I promise

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<v Speaker 1>to be honest, blunt and direct about what is happening

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<v Speaker 1>in this country. America is in crisis. Follow and subscribe

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<v Speaker 1>to this channel and on substack, thank you,