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Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, was mocked by a former Democratic lawmaker after holding a rally in protest of billionaire Elon Musk’s advisory team accessing Treasury Department information.
On Tuesday afternoon, Schumer led chants of “We will win!” in front of the Treasury building to display disapproval for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency which, despite being an unofficial organization, has rapidly amassed authority.
However, some people did not find Schumer’s chant to be an effective form of action. He was mocked online for chanting about “winning” just months after losing the presidential election and control of both houses of Congress. Tim Ryan, a former Democratic representative from Ohio, took note as well calling it “depressing.”
“I just don’t even know what to say anymore when I see this kind of stuff. Is it Saturday Night Live or real life?” Ryan wrote on X in response to a clip of Schumer.
“Does anyone really think this is the future of the country? This is the only alternative to Trump’s America? It’s just so depressing,” he added.
Ryan represented Ohio in the House from 2003 until 2023. He unsuccessfully tried to replace Representative Nancy Pelosi as the top Democrat in the House in 2016 and briefly ran a failed presidential campaign in 2020.
Ryan and other Democrats have been critical of party leadership for failing to take tangible action against Trump and Musk as they seek to overhaul the government and federal workforce with drastic and legally challenging actions.
Online, people responded to the video of Schumer claiming it was “embarrassing.” Several proposed Schumer should “step aside” and allow for younger leadership to take over.
A panel of CNN co-anchors laughed at Schumer’s chant with conservative political commentator Scott Jennings asking to “play it again.”
“I’m disappointed in the lack of plan,” Bakari Sellers, a liberal political commentator said in response to the lackluster rally. “I don’t want to hear Chuck Schumer saying, ‘We won’t lose’ and ‘We won’t rest’, I’d rather have a small business owner up there talking about the impact on them.”
Left-leaning late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel ripped on the New York Senator for not taking enough action.
“Oh we are so f***ed,” Kimmel said on Tuesday evening. “We are doomed.”
