*Today Senator Chuck Schumer was a guest on SiriusXM’s “The Joe Madison Show,” where he talked about how President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are handling the current crisis, as well as the one joy in all of this – staying at home with his young grandson.
On a new relief bill, Sen. Schumer said people need to take action and call their senators because both McConnell and Trump are “repeating Herbert Hoover’s mistake” by allowing the private sector to work things out. “This president is such an incompetent, I would use an adjective before it, but I’m on a show of very nice people…”
He also added that there’s good news on the relief bill because when Democrats stood firm against him on previous bills, the pressure worked: “He always talks this way and then he caves.”
Audio and transcripts are below, as well as a link to the full interview.
Chuck Schumer: Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are “Repeating Herbert Hoover’s Mistake”
SEN. SCHUMER: Now, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate is saying, I don’t see the need for immediate action. What is he telling the family that has two breadwinners and both of them have lost their jobs? What is he telling the family that’s going to be evicted? So you should, please praise God, Joe, set your listeners loose. Everyone should call their Senator and say, we need this bill. We do need action. And I’d make one more point for the people who have been around a little while, the Great Depression started when the stock market crashed, but there was a Republican conservative president then named Herbert Hoover and Herbert Hoover said, we don’t have to do anything. Let the private sector work this out. And the Great Depression occurred and 25% of America was out of work for years. Well, Donald Trump is saying the same thing.
Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate is saying the same thing. They’re repeating Herbert Hoover’s mistake. But we do have leverage because these Republican senators, lots of them are up for reelection. They’re scared and they know the public — across the board — wants these things. Even the people who haven’t been thrown out of work and I just, can I make one more point, Joe? Testing. If we could have tests and they were free for everybody, we could help solve this problem much more quickly because of New Rochelle, a very diverse community right north of New York City. They were the first to quarantine. I asked the mayor, what do you need? He said, testing. If I could test all the 70,000 residents of New Rochelle, we know who had the illness and we’d say stay inside for two weeks. If you didn’t have the illness, we’d say stay at work, walk, go to the stores, shop, eat in the restaurants and things would go back to normal. Every country that has licked this problem or at least greatly reduced it has had broad amount of testing. This president is such an incompetent, I would use an adjective before it, but I’m on a show of very nice people…
JOE MADISON, HOST: That’s all right. I have a swear jar, so I put a dollar in my swear jar, I donate it to Food for America. So it goes through these calls, go ahead.
SEN. SCHUMER: …Good. But this president is so incompetent. We have no testing. And then, of course, he gets up in lies about it. Two months ago he said, everyone who wants a test has a test. That’s still not true. So he doesn’t even learn from the experience of other countries. So there is so much to do here.
Senator Chuck Schumer says “the pressure works” on Mitch McConnell
JOE MADISON, HOST: I had a caller from Georgia. He said he had $300 left. He was out of work. I think he was in probably custodial business. And he said, ‘well, what, what can I do? What can I do?’ I said, ‘well, you know, you might look, there’s some jobs out here that are opening, but most important of all,’ and you hit it. I said, ‘call your two senators from Georgia. Tell them to support this bill that’s out there.’ I sure hope that he’s listening because in that bill you just said it, at least he gets some additional money so he can go out here and buy food and there are so many other things in there for him. People are just, and then your colleague on the other side says.. this is what McConnell said in response to the bill being introduced over in the House side. Play it quickly and then I’ll let the Senator respond..
Audio of Mitch McConnell: This is not a time for aspirational legislation. This is a time for practical response to the coronavirus pandemic. And so we’re going to insist on doing narrowly targeted legislation, if and when we do legislate again and we may well that addresses the problems, the needs and not the aspirations of the democratic majority in the House.
MADISON: Now, I could put a dollar in the swear jar because I won’t say because I have respect for the Senate.
SEN. SCHUMER: Their family is not aspirational. Someone who is getting kicked out of their house because they can’t pay the mortgage or can’t pay the rent is not aspirational. This is, he is…now one good news on this, and then I want to say one more thing. One bit of good news here. McConnell resisted the first two bills. We Democrats from the most liberal to the most conservative, all stood firm and said, ‘we’re not passing your pro corporate stuff.’ And the pressure on McConnell mounted so they had to pass bills that were 75-80% ours. So we can, the pressure works on him. So please don’t think it’s hopeless. It is not. He always talks this way and then he caves.
Senator Chuck Schumer says the coronavirus is bringing families together
SEN. SCHUMER: So we’re going to focus on the disparities to racial, to people of color, minorities. But the one other thing, the good thing, can I conclude on a happier note? So I am trying to practice social distancing except when I have to be in Washington where I’m alone in my office. I don’t make my staff come in. I spend time in my apartment in Brooklyn and the only four people I have physically touched for six weeks (I’m trying to be very careful here) is my wife of course, my son and daughter-in-law. They had a small apartment and they came to live with us, but living with us as well is my 16-month-old grandson. It reminded me when you talked about your great-grandson and I get to spend, I spent six weeks with little Noah. Whenever would that have happened? Six weeks, six straight weeks with him. So it was beautiful. And I’m working 24/7. I only sleep three, four hours a night cause there’s so much to do. But my most exhausting hour each day is the day I’m assigned to chase him around the house. He pulls the books, we’re not baby proofed. So the only good thing I can think of is it does bring families, at least the healthy families. If you have someone sick in your family and you’re isolated, that’s awful. But at least the healthy families, we’re all coming together a little better, and maybe that’ll be a permanent good thing here.
The complete interview: https://www.siriusxm.com/clips/clip/0469a9b1-fd7d-4257-ab28-f76acc8fa2aa/005e5aaa-4d66-4ab8-8197-8006f4d3f250
SiriusXM’s The Joe Madison Show (weekdays from 6-10am ET on Urban View channel 126).
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