Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett did not mince words Sunday while discussing New York Senator Chuck Schumer‘s surprising decision last Thursday to back a Republican funding bill in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Schumer has since defended his decision, arguing that it was the only way Democrats could prevent President Trump and Elon Musk from making even more drastic cuts to the federal government than they already have. When asked about Schumer’s defense by CNN’s Jake Tapper, Crockett revealed that she did not find it particularly convincing or persuasive.
“He’s absolutely wrong,” Crockett said. “I understand that the American people are frustrated. Please believe, many of us did not sleep because we were calling and trying to impress upon the senators the importance of pushing back.”
“As you saw, we had all but one Democrat in the House that voted for this, so that’s 212 Democrats in the House, and then you had the vast majority of senators vote for it or vote against it as well,” she added. “So the idea that Chuck Schumer is the only one that’s got a brain in the room and the only one that can think through all of the pros and cons — it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
When asked whether Senate Democrats should oust Schumer from his position as Senate Minority Leader and replace him with someone else, Crockett replied, “I think Senate Democrats have to sit down and take a look and decide whether or not Chuck Schumer is the one to lead in this moment.” You can watch the full CNN segment for yourself in the video, below.
Further blasting Schumer’s abrupt shutdown reversal, Crockett told Tapper, “You and I both know that this administration could care less about whether or not they violate the law.”
Before bringing Crockett on air, Tapper referenced a recent CNN poll that revealed the Democratic Party currently holds an all-time low 29% favorability score among the American people right now, despite President Trump’s divisive actions throughout the first eight weeks of his second term.
Crockett was not directly asked about that CNN poll by Tapper, but she took her interview with the anchor as an opportunity to defend her party nonetheless. “I want to say that it is the Democratic attorneys general and some governors that are standing up against this administration and bringing those lawsuits and winning every single time,” Crockett said, referring to the multiple court cases and judicial blocks that certain judges have raised against some of Trump’s many executive orders in recent weeks.
“[This administration is] losing in court,” she continued. “Could we do a better job of making sure that the American people know that we are winning in the courts? We probably could. But at the end of the day, it’s still Democrats that are winning for the American people.”
