A week after breaking with most Congressional Democrats to pass President Donald Trump's budget, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is ready to acknowledge that has pushed the country into a constitutional crisis.
In a 90-second clip teasing a full interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the Democratic senator from New York told host Kristen Welker that the president was a “lawless, angry man.”
“He thinks he should be king. He thinks he should do whatever he wants, regardless of the law, and he thinks judges should just listen to him,” he added. “We have to fight that back in every single way.”
Schumer’s comments come amid calls from many within the Democratic Party to remove him from leadership. The long-time power player in the party was one of scant few Dems who broke with the party to push through a Republican budget and avoid a government shutdown.
The fifth-term Senator canceled a book tour slated to begin earlier this week after demonstrators gathered outside his Brooklyn home to rally against his vote. One demonstrator told Salon last week that Schumer’s vote was a sign the minority leader was “capitulating to fascism.”
Still, Schumer drew at least one red line in terms of Democratic cooperation with Trump. Discussing the president’s recent push to impeach federal judges who’ve blocked portions of his second-term agenda, Schumer promised no compromise.
“Democrats in the Senate will not impeach judges. Full stop,” he said. “We have to watch him like a hawk. Defying court orders is why our democracy is at risk and we’ll have to do everything to fight back in that regard.”
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