Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) knew what he had to say, but that didn’t mean he took joy in saying it.
That message was to tell President Joe Biden that he should abandon his plans to stay in the White House, per a report in the New York Times.
But it was July 13, 2024, shortly after Biden’s disastrous debate against the now-President-elect Donald Trump in June. The message had to be delivered and Schumer was the man to do it.
“If you run and you lose to Trump, and we lose the Senate, and we don’t get back the House, that 50 years of amazing, beautiful work goes out the window,” Schumer told Biden. “But worse — you go down in American history as one of the darkest figures.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t run, and I’m urging you not to run,” Schumer advised.
Part of Schumer’s case involved Biden’s own party not voting for him.
Democratic pollsters reported Biden had about a 5% chance beating Trump.
The 45-minute conversation ultimately resulted in Biden backing away from the Democratic ticket in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris a week later.
Before this interaction, Schumer would outwardly profess his devotion to Biden, saying, “I’m with Joe.”
But that was only publicly.
Per the outlet, Schumer had been concerned “for months” Biden would lose to Trump. A Biden loss could cost Democrats control of the Senate and a chance of winning back the House.
Before then, Schumer stood by Biden and vouched for his mental acuity.
On Feb. 13, Schumer told reporters any concerns regarding Biden’s physical and mental condition were “right-wing propaganda.”
“I talk to President Biden, you know, regularly, sometimes several times in a week, or usually several times in a week. His mental acuity is great. It’s fine. It’s as good as it’s been over the years,” Schumer said in mid-February.
NBC’s Kristen Welker recently asked Schumer whether he “and other top Democrats misled” Americans about Biden’s “mental acuity.”
“Look, we didn’t,” Schumer said as he defended Biden’s record.
“The legislation we passed, one of the most significant groups of legislation since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society,” Schumer said, referring to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, confirmed Schumer acted on behalf of the majority of Senate Democrats when he asked for Biden to drop out of the race.
“First of all, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden have a long relationship. Chuck was a credible and persuasive connection because they go back to the years working on Judiciary Committee issues,” Wyden said. “That was a real common bond for them, so I think that was the right move for Senate Democrats to reach out through Senator Schumer.”
Wyden said Schumer was “the person” to tell Biden not to run.
“Certainly, Senator Schumer talks to all of us. The big joke is he knows all of our phone numbers by heart. So yes, there was no question that he was going to do this. He was the person to do it. Those years of working together … made him a good fit for it,” Wyden said.
