Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Sunday explained his shift to the left from an “angry centrist” in his early days.
Mehdi Hasan, host of MSNBC’s “The Mehdi Hasan Show,” asked Schumer if his becoming more progressive is a result of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) considering a primary against him.
Schumer did not respond to the Ocasio-Cortez portion of the question but reasoned that his move is a result of things like climate having “changed dramatically” over the last 10-15 years.
“Today, you’re pitching yourself as a champion of progressive causes like climate justice, legal marijuana, student debt cancellation. Is that simply times changing and you moving with your party to the left, or is it, as a lot of people claim, you trying to fend off a challenge from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a primary?” Hasan asked.
“What’s happened in the last 10, 15 years, things have changed rather dramatically,” Schumer stated. “Climate, for example, 10 or 15 years ago — the climate issue was not upon us the way it is now. Income inequality, wealth inequality — they have gotten much worse over the last 10 years. Even democracy with Trump in office and some of these Republican legislators doing what they’ve done — that has eroded. So, the need for bold change comes from my desire to help average people. And I don’t think, you know, milquetoast change is going to get that done.”
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