Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sat down with the hosts of The View on Tuesday, after half the table accused him of “caving” to Donald Trump the day before.
And as promised, the first question the senator fielded from Whoopi Goldberg was a blunt, “What were you thinking?”
Schumer defended his decision, telling the hosts that not allowing through the Republican spending bill would lead to “devastation like we have never seen,” as Trump, Musk, and DOGE “could cut off anything they want simply by saying it’s not essential” during a shutdown.
Sunny Hostin just wasn’t buying it. “It gives me no pleasure to say this to you because we are friends,” she said, “but I think you and nine other Democrats caved. I don’t think you showed the fight that this party needs right now because you’re playing by a rulebook where the other party has thrown that rulebook away.”
“I’d say, Sunny, no one wants to fight more than me,” Schumer responded, “and no one fights more than me. We’ve got to fight smart.” He continued, “That bill is bad—I hated it. But it does far less damage than” a shutdown would. “I understand we want to stick it to them. We’re gonna stick it to them and fight smart and win.”
The senator described his choices as “one chops off one of your fingers and one chops off your arm.” He explained that with a shutdown, “Day two, SNAP—food for poor kids—not essential. Day four, mass transit, New York city subway and subways all over. Not essential. Day seven, Medicaid. Not essential. ‘People don’t need Medicaid. They should get their own health care,’” he said the executive branch would say.
“And this would happen over and over and over again. And there’s no check.” He also emphasized that the only way out of the shutdown would be through Trump and Musk. “One of the Republican senators told one of the Democratic senators, ‘You get in this, we’re staying in for six months, nine months, a year—until we decimate’” the programs Democrats want to protect.
Hostin was resolved, however, that Schumer still rolled over.
“There are many fewer cuts in that bill than there would be in a shutdown,” Schumer insisted.
Hostin shot back, “But they exist.”
